Plenty of people have overcome adversity in their rugby careers but Andrew Strawbridge’s story is in a league of its own. England’s new assistant coach, back on tour in his native New Zealand, almost died from sepsis in a Samoan hospital a few years ago, his condition so grave his wife was told to prepare for the worst. He ended up losing the sight in his right eye but, thankfully, is still around to retell the tale.
Listening to him recalling the sobering details – “I think I was resuscitated three times” – as England prepare for the second Test against the All Blacks in Auckland on Saturday is certainly to be reminded of sport’s relative unimportance. Strawbridge is now a campaigner for sepsis awareness – “It’s a hideous little thing” – and is seeking to do everything he can to help others avoid similar life-threatening ordeals.
