EXCLUSIVE: Rotherham to appoint Andy Key as head coach

By JON NEWCOMBE
Rotherham Titans have wasted no time in lining up a successor to Justin Burnell with former Leeds boss Andy Key wanted as the man to take the club forward.
Key was interviewed for the Titans head coach job last year but missed out to affable Welshman Burnell who paid the price for a miserable run of results by losing his job this week.
Now The Rugby Paper understands Key could be officially appointed by the end of the week.
In any other Championship season, the Titans would have been fighting for their lives at the bottom end of the table, but London Welsh‘s demise has brought about a reprieve from the drop into National One.
However, the board have decided to act now in the hope that another change of coach –this is the 11th changing of the guard since current owners Martin Jenkinson and Nick Cragg saved the club in 2004 – will prevent a repeat scenario when relegation is back on the agenda next season.
The club put out a brief statement on Tuesday to confirm that the Titans’ 17-9 defeat at Jersey would be Burnell’s last game in charge.
“Justin will leave the Club with immediate effect,” it said.
“It has been a difficult season and the Club feels now is the right time to make a change.
“The Club wishes to thank Justin and wish him every success in the future.”
Key, aged 58, spent over two decades at Leicester Tigers as a player and coach, and was the driving force behind the club’s academy, while also serving as backs coach at Bedford until he eventually moved on to Leeds.
Alongside Neil Back, Key helped Leeds win the Championship and kept them up the following year against all the odds, to earn the 2010 Premiership Director of Rugby of the Year award.
Key, however, paid the price for a poor run of results the following year and was sacked in February 2011.
Since then, he has worked in a variety of roles at Rugby Lions, L’Aquila in Italy, Cambridge University and, most recently, Leicester Lions in National Two North.