Rob Andrew kicked off potentially the most awkward week of his career yesterday by revealing that he intends to sign a new five-year contract as Newcastle's director of rugby this summer, a deal which could earn the former England fly-half about £1m.

Far from shrinking from the limelight in the run-up to this Saturday's return to Kingsholm, where he was at the centre of the unproven racism allegations directed at the Gloucester hooker Olivier Azam last December, Andrew is adamant he is staying with the Falcons and insists he will not leave the north-east before 2007 even if a vacancy arises in the England hierarchy.

Already the longest-serving director of rugby in the professional game, having begun the professional revolution in 1995 when Sir John Hall enticed him north from Wasps with a five-year contract worth £750,000, the 39-year-old Andrew is convinced there will be "huge growth" in the club game over the next few years and is determined to ensure Newcastle reap the benefits.

"I think there'll be between 10% and 20% growth per annum for the next three or four years," he said. "There's a real buzz about the club at the moment and there's no sense of having done my time. We've worked very hard over the past five or six years to build the club and the next five or six are very exciting."

Andrew's confidence was backed up at yesterday's launch of the end-of-season Zurich Championship when it was announced that Premiership crowds across the country this season have increased by 21%.

But several clubs admit that this year's play-offs, involving the top eight sides, will be a case of weary mind over matter, and English Rugby Ltd's director Peter Wheeler concedes it will be another year at least before the fixture list can be shrunk to give players a decent off-season. The Zurich Championship final on June 8 will be fighting for column inches with the Derby, the immediate aftermath of England's World Cup showdown with Argentina and Lennox Lewis v Mike Tyson.

The sponsors can only hope the lure of two Heineken Cup places for clubs not already assured of qualification will ensure competitive action to the end.

"We need to refine the calendar but I still think there is a solid case for the Zurich Championship," said Wheeler. "Last year saw really competitive games and full commitment from the clubs and there was the same enthusiasm from spectators."

London Irish's director of rugby Conor O'Shea, however, is among those in two minds before his side's home quarter-final with Northampton. "I feel a lot for the players because we've crawled over the finish line. It's a case of visiting the hospital ward this week and seeing who's fit. We're riddled with injuries but we'll put out the strongest team we can. There may be groans and gripes but, come the matches, they'll be proper competitive games."

· The Saracens scrum-half Nick Walshe, who has four England A caps, has signed for Sale. He follows the lock Scott Murray, who was yesterday named as Scotland's player of the season for the second time.