Richard Hill (flanker)
Encyclopedia
Richard Hill MBE
(born 23 May 1973 in Dormansland, Surrey
) is a former rugby union
footballer who played flanker
for Saracens
and England
.
Often portrayed as the 'silent assassin' at both club and international level, his effective and abrasive style of forward play has made him legendary in rugby union circles. Big hits, shrewd driving and energy-sapping support play, are all features of his exceptionally well-rounded game which made him one of the most highly rated flankers of his era.
He has a namesake, Richard John Hill
, who played for England
at scrum half between 1984 and 1992.
in Salisbury
. He went on to gain early prominence as a schools international. It is coincidental that his namesake
(who coaches Bristol Rugby) had also attended the same school and both played for Salisbury Rugby Club. He graduated from the West London Institute of Higher Education
formerly Borough Road College (1891–2002) (now Brunel University
) in Sports Science and Geography, in the mid 1990s.
Hill made his England
debut in the 1997 Five Nations Championship against Scotland
, playing at openside flanker
. He was selected ahead of Neil Back
, who was controversially ignored by the England team for that period. He toured South Africa
with the British Lions
in the summer of 1997
, gaining two caps.
He missed Saracens’ Tetley’s Bitter Cup victory in 1998 with a back injury.
Under new coach Clive Woodward
, Hill was initially selected at openside, but was moved to blindside flanker
to accommodate Neil Back
on the openside flank, Lawrence Dallaglio
moving from blindside to number eight. It was in this position, with this Hill, Back, Dallaglio combination of players, that Hill gained most of his caps.
squad for the 2003 Rugby Union World Cup. During the opening game of the English campaign, against Georgia
, he picked up a hamstring injury in the 50th minute.
His absence for the remaining pool games against South Africa
, Samoa
and the quarter final against Wales
was pinpointed as a major factor as to why England
looked far from the world beaters they would eventually become.
He was in the starting line up for the semi-final against France
. England easily coped with the much-vaunted French back-row. Hill played a key role in helping England defeat Australia
in the final.
's retirement in 2003, Hill switched back to the openside flanker role. He is the only player never to have been dropped during Sir Clive Woodward's
England tenure, due to his prolific work in the rucks and mauls. He played for Saracens and was selected for the England Saxons
(A-Team) squad for the 2007 internationals.
Hill injured the anterior cruciate ligament
in his left knee in a match against London Irish
on 3 October 2004, and underwent surgery on 6 October 2004. He was out for the following seven months, but returned to be named in a Lions
touring squad for the third time in 2005
. He was named in the starting fifteen for the first Lions Test against the All Blacks
, but suffered a knee injury during the first half, ending his tour.
In January 2008 he announced that he would retire at the end of the current Guinness Premiership season, due to the toll taken upon his knee since his two injuries - he now walks with a permanent limp. However, in April 2008, his man-of-the-match performance in the Heineken Cup victory over Ospreys confirmed his continued ability to perform at the highest level, even when playing on almost one leg. On May 11, 2008, Hill played his last game for Saracens with a 25-20 win over Bristol.
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(born 23 May 1973 in Dormansland, Surrey
Dormansland, Surrey
Dormansland is a village and civil parish approximately one mile south of Lingfield in Surrey, southern England. It is bordered on the east by the county of Kent and on the south by West Sussex.The Prime Meridian passes just to the west of Dormansland....
) is a former rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
footballer who played flanker
Flanker (rugby union)
A flanker is a position in the sport of rugby union. Flankers play in the forwards, and are generally classified as either blindside, or openside flankers; numbers six and seven respectively. The name comes from their position in a scrum in which they flank each set of forwards...
for Saracens
Saracens F.C.
Saracens are a professional rugby union team based in St. Albans, England – although they play their home games at Vicarage Road, in Watford. They are currently members of the Aviva Premiership, the top level of domestic rugby union in England...
and England
England national rugby union team
The England national rugby union team represents England in rugby union. They compete in the annual Six Nations Championship with France, Ireland, Scotland, Italy, and Wales. They have won this championship on 26 occasions, 12 times winning the Grand Slam, making them the most successful team in...
.
Often portrayed as the 'silent assassin' at both club and international level, his effective and abrasive style of forward play has made him legendary in rugby union circles. Big hits, shrewd driving and energy-sapping support play, are all features of his exceptionally well-rounded game which made him one of the most highly rated flankers of his era.
He has a namesake, Richard John Hill
Richard Hill (scrum-half)
Richard Hill , is rugby union coach and former English international rugby footballer.-Biography:Born in Birmingham, Hill was educated at Bishop Wordsworth's Grammar School in Salisbury, and Exeter University...
, who played for England
England national rugby union team
The England national rugby union team represents England in rugby union. They compete in the annual Six Nations Championship with France, Ireland, Scotland, Italy, and Wales. They have won this championship on 26 occasions, 12 times winning the Grand Slam, making them the most successful team in...
at scrum half between 1984 and 1992.
Early life
Hill attended Bishop Wordsworth's Grammar SchoolBishop Wordsworth's School
Bishop Wordsworth's School is a Church of England boys' day grammar school located in Salisbury, England. In 2010, there were 748 pupils aged between 11 and 18. The school is regularly amongst the top-performing schools in England, and in 2011 was the top school performer for the English...
in Salisbury
Salisbury
Salisbury is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England and the only city in the county. It is the second largest settlement in the county...
. He went on to gain early prominence as a schools international. It is coincidental that his namesake
Richard Hill (scrum-half)
Richard Hill , is rugby union coach and former English international rugby footballer.-Biography:Born in Birmingham, Hill was educated at Bishop Wordsworth's Grammar School in Salisbury, and Exeter University...
(who coaches Bristol Rugby) had also attended the same school and both played for Salisbury Rugby Club. He graduated from the West London Institute of Higher Education
West London Institute of Higher Education
The West London Institute of Higher Education was located in Isleworth, West London, UK from 1976 until 1995 when it merged with Brunel University.- Establishment :...
formerly Borough Road College (1891–2002) (now Brunel University
Brunel University
Brunel University is a public research university located in Uxbridge, London, United Kingdom. The university is named after the Victorian engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel....
) in Sports Science and Geography, in the mid 1990s.
Early years
He made his first Saracens appearance in 1993.Hill made his England
England national rugby union team
The England national rugby union team represents England in rugby union. They compete in the annual Six Nations Championship with France, Ireland, Scotland, Italy, and Wales. They have won this championship on 26 occasions, 12 times winning the Grand Slam, making them the most successful team in...
debut in the 1997 Five Nations Championship against Scotland
Scotland national rugby union team
The Scotland national rugby union team represent Scotland in international rugby union. Rugby union in Scotland is administered by the Scottish Rugby Union. The Scotland rugby union team is currently ranked eighth in the IRB World Rankings as of 19 September 2011...
, playing at openside flanker
Flanker (rugby union)
A flanker is a position in the sport of rugby union. Flankers play in the forwards, and are generally classified as either blindside, or openside flankers; numbers six and seven respectively. The name comes from their position in a scrum in which they flank each set of forwards...
. He was selected ahead of Neil Back
Neil Back
Neil Antony Back is a former international rugby union footballer for England, who also played for Leicester Tigers, and captained both England and Leicester during his career....
, who was controversially ignored by the England team for that period. He toured South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
with the British Lions
British and Irish Lions
The British and Irish Lions is a rugby union team made up of players from England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales...
in the summer of 1997
1997 British Lions tour to South Africa
The 1997 British and Irish Lions tour to South Africa was a series of matches played by the British and Irish Lions rugby union team in South Africa.This tour followed the Lions' 1993 tour to New Zealand and preceded their 2001 tour to Australia....
, gaining two caps.
He missed Saracens’ Tetley’s Bitter Cup victory in 1998 with a back injury.
Under new coach Clive Woodward
Clive Woodward
Sir Clive Ronald Woodward OBE is an English former rugby union player and coach. He was coach of the team from 1997 to 2004, managing them to victory in the 2003 Rugby World Cup. He is currently the British Olympic Association's Director of Elite Performance.-Early life:Woodward was born in Ely...
, Hill was initially selected at openside, but was moved to blindside flanker
Flanker (rugby union)
A flanker is a position in the sport of rugby union. Flankers play in the forwards, and are generally classified as either blindside, or openside flankers; numbers six and seven respectively. The name comes from their position in a scrum in which they flank each set of forwards...
to accommodate Neil Back
Neil Back
Neil Antony Back is a former international rugby union footballer for England, who also played for Leicester Tigers, and captained both England and Leicester during his career....
on the openside flank, Lawrence Dallaglio
Lawrence Dallaglio
Lorenzo Bruno Nero "Lawrence" Dallaglio, OBE is a retired English rugby union player and former captain of the English national team. He played as a flanker or number eight for London Wasps and never played for another club, having arrived at Sudbury as a teenager...
moving from blindside to number eight. It was in this position, with this Hill, Back, Dallaglio combination of players, that Hill gained most of his caps.
2003 Rugby World Cup
Richard Hill was part of the EnglandEngland national rugby union team
The England national rugby union team represents England in rugby union. They compete in the annual Six Nations Championship with France, Ireland, Scotland, Italy, and Wales. They have won this championship on 26 occasions, 12 times winning the Grand Slam, making them the most successful team in...
squad for the 2003 Rugby Union World Cup. During the opening game of the English campaign, against Georgia
Georgia national rugby union team
The Georgia national rugby union team represents Georgia in rugby union. The team's nickname, The Lelos, comes from lelo burti, a traditional Georgian sport with strong similarities to rugby. Lelo has been adopted as the Georgian word for "try"...
, he picked up a hamstring injury in the 50th minute.
His absence for the remaining pool games against South Africa
South Africa national rugby union team
The South African national rugby union team are 2009 British and Irish Lions Series winners. They are currently ranked as the fourth best team in the IRB World Rankings and were named 2008 World Team of the Year at the prestigious Laureus World Sports Awards.Although South Africa was instrumental...
, Samoa
Samoa national rugby union team
The Manu Samoa is the men's representative side of the Samoa Rugby Union in both the 15's and the 7's for international competitions. The Samoa Rugby Union is owned by the affiliated rugby unions of Samoa. In Samoa, Manu Samoa is in honour of a famous Samoan warrior. From 1924 to 1997 Samoa was...
and the quarter final against Wales
Wales national rugby union team
The Wales national rugby union team represent Wales in international rugby union tournaments. They compete annually in the Six Nations Championship with England, France, Ireland, Italy and Scotland. Wales have won the Six Nations and its predecessors 24 times outright, second only to England with...
was pinpointed as a major factor as to why England
England national rugby union team
The England national rugby union team represents England in rugby union. They compete in the annual Six Nations Championship with France, Ireland, Scotland, Italy, and Wales. They have won this championship on 26 occasions, 12 times winning the Grand Slam, making them the most successful team in...
looked far from the world beaters they would eventually become.
He was in the starting line up for the semi-final against France
France national rugby union team
The France national rugby union team represents France in rugby union. They compete annually against England, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales in the Six Nations Championship. They have won the championship outright sixteen times, shared it a further eight times, and have completed nine grand slams...
. England easily coped with the much-vaunted French back-row. Hill played a key role in helping England defeat Australia
Australia national rugby union team
The Australian national rugby union team is the representative side of Australia in rugby union. The national team is nicknamed the Wallabies and competes annually with New Zealand and South Africa in the Tri-Nations Series, in which they also contest the Bledisloe Cup with New Zealand and the...
in the final.
The present
Since Neil BackNeil Back
Neil Antony Back is a former international rugby union footballer for England, who also played for Leicester Tigers, and captained both England and Leicester during his career....
's retirement in 2003, Hill switched back to the openside flanker role. He is the only player never to have been dropped during Sir Clive Woodward's
Clive Woodward
Sir Clive Ronald Woodward OBE is an English former rugby union player and coach. He was coach of the team from 1997 to 2004, managing them to victory in the 2003 Rugby World Cup. He is currently the British Olympic Association's Director of Elite Performance.-Early life:Woodward was born in Ely...
England tenure, due to his prolific work in the rucks and mauls. He played for Saracens and was selected for the England Saxons
England Saxons
England Saxons is the current name of England's men's second national rugby union team. The team has previously been known by a number of names, such as England B, Emerging England and, most recently, England A...
(A-Team) squad for the 2007 internationals.
Hill injured the anterior cruciate ligament
Anterior cruciate ligament
The anterior cruciate ligament is a cruciate ligament which is one of the four major ligaments of the human knee. In the quadruped stifle , based on its anatomical position, it is referred to as the cranial cruciate ligament.The ACL originates from deep within the notch of the distal femur...
in his left knee in a match against London Irish
London Irish
London Irish RFC is an English rugby union club based in Sunbury, Surrey, where the senior squad train, the youth teams and senior academy play home games, and the club maintain their administrative offices. The senior squad play home games at the Madejski Stadium in Reading and compete in the top...
on 3 October 2004, and underwent surgery on 6 October 2004. He was out for the following seven months, but returned to be named in a Lions
British and Irish Lions
The British and Irish Lions is a rugby union team made up of players from England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales...
touring squad for the third time in 2005
2005 British and Irish Lions tour to New Zealand
In 2005 the British and Irish Lions rugby union team toured New Zealand for the first time since 1993, playing 7 tour matches against first and second division clubs from the National Provincial Championship series, 1 tour match against the national New Zealand all Māori club, and 3 official test...
. He was named in the starting fifteen for the first Lions Test against the All Blacks
All Blacks
The New Zealand men's national rugby union team, known as the All Blacks, represent New Zealand in what is regarded as its national sport....
, but suffered a knee injury during the first half, ending his tour.
In January 2008 he announced that he would retire at the end of the current Guinness Premiership season, due to the toll taken upon his knee since his two injuries - he now walks with a permanent limp. However, in April 2008, his man-of-the-match performance in the Heineken Cup victory over Ospreys confirmed his continued ability to perform at the highest level, even when playing on almost one leg. On May 11, 2008, Hill played his last game for Saracens with a 25-20 win over Bristol.