Rugby union is in mourning after the death of former Sale Sharks lock Andrews, who died at his team's hotel in La Rochelle ahead of a Champions Cup fixture in France.
The second row, who had been part of the travelling squad for the European match, was found at the hotel, with the club confirming the news in a brief and devastated statement.
Tributes have poured in from across the sport, from former teammates and opponents alike, for a player remembered as a formidable competitor and a popular figure in every dressing room he entered.
A respected career
Andrews built his reputation in the second row, one of the most demanding positions in the game, where his work rate, lineout expertise and physicality made him a mainstay of the Sale pack during his years at the club.
He was the kind of player coaches value most: rarely the headline act, but central to the platform on which everything else depended, and relentless in the unglamorous work around the fringes.
After his time at Sale he continued his career in France, where he had settled and remained a respected figure in the professional game.
Shock in France
The circumstances of his death have not been fully detailed, and the club has asked for privacy for his family. French authorities are understood to be treating it as a sudden death, with no suggestion of foul play.
The Champions Cup fixture was overshadowed by the news, with players and supporters paying their respects. A minute's silence was observed, and tributes were laid by fans.
For the squad who travelled with him, the coming days will be extraordinarily difficult. Clubs at this level are close-knit communities, and the loss of a teammate in such circumstances reverberates through every part of the organisation.
Tributes from across the game
Former Sale teammates described Andrews as a man who brought energy and humour to training every day, and who gave everything he had on the pitch.
The Rugby Players' Association and Premiership Rugby both issued statements of condolence, and support has been offered to his family, friends and former clubs.
The news has prompted an outpouring on social media from supporters of every club, a measure of how widely he was liked and respected.
A sombre weekend
The death comes at the start of a European rugby weekend, casting a shadow over fixtures across the continent.
Sale Sharks said the club's thoughts were with Andrews' family and that further tributes would follow in due course. A book of condolence is expected to be opened, and the club's next home fixture will include a formal tribute to a player who gave the club some of the best years of his career.
He is survived by his family, to whom the rugby world's thoughts now turn. The sport has lost one of its own, far too soon.
The death has also prompted reflection within the sport about the welfare of players living and working far from home. Professional rugby is a migratory career, with players moving between clubs, countries and continents, and the support structures around them have not always kept pace. The Rugby Players' Association has expanded its mental health and pastoral services in recent years, and clubs increasingly employ welfare officers whose work extends well beyond the training pitch. Former teammates spoke of Andrews as someone who looked out for others — the first to check on a young player settling in, the last to leave a team-mate struggling. It is that generosity, as much as anything he did in the second row, that those who knew him say they will remember.
