Andrew Miller (rugby union)

Andrew (Andy) Miller (born 13 September 1972) is a former professional rugby player from New Zealand who played fly half and represented the Japan national rugby union team.

Andrew Miller
Birth nameAndrew John Miller
Date of birth (1972-09-13) 13 September 1972
Place of birthTe Puke, New Zealand
Height1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)
Weight82 kg (12 st 13 lb)
Rugby union career
Position(s) Fly-half, Full back
Amateur team(s)
Years Team Apps (Points)
1991-1995
1996
1997		 United Pirates
Te Puke Sports
Te Puke		 ()
Senior career
Years Team Apps (Points)
1998-2004 Kobelco Steelers ()
Provincial / State sides
Years Team Apps (Points)
1991-1997
2004		 Bay of Plenty
Southland		 69
1		 (718)
(0)
Super Rugby
Years Team Apps (Points)
1996 Crusaders 7 (77)
National team(s)
Years Team Apps (Points)
1992
2002-2003		 New Zealand Colts
Japan		 2
10		 (21)
(70)

Miller started his career with Bay of Plenty and played in the inaugural 1996 Super 12 season for the Canterbury Crusaders, before moving to Japan to play for the Kobelco Steelers.

After qualifying to play for Japan through residency, Miller made his international debut in May 2002 against Russia.[1] Graham Henry said that he could have pushed for a place in the All Blacks side.[2]

He was selected for the Japan squad for the 2003 Rugby World Cup. where he kept the leading Japanese points scorer of all time Keiji Hirose out of the team and was credited with helping them to some credible performances and was noted as one of Japan's best players at the tournament.[3][4] He notably scored a 52-metre drop goal against Fiji which was the longest in Rugby World Cup history.[5][6][7][8]

He didn't play again for Japan after the World Cup after they briefly made a policy not to select foreign born players in 2004, and Miller returned to New Zealand to play for Southland.

References
  1. "Japan v Russia at Tokyo".
  2. "Henry, Horan sing praises of Japanese rugby".
  3. "RUGBY IN JAPAN". Archived from the original on 20 June 2013.
  4. "Japan - The Cherry Blossoms".
  5. "Andrew Miller drop goal".
  6. "RWC PLAYER RECORDS".
  7. "Rugby World Cup Records". Archived from the original on 2 May 2012.
  8. "Carter adding another weapon to All Blacks arsenal?".
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