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Richard Hill to hang up his boots

Thursday 24th January 2008

Hill: Head and shoulders above the rest

Saracens and England star Richard Hill has announced that he will retire from professional rugby at the end of the current season.

Hill, who has played for Saracens throughout his entire first class-career, made his first team debut in 1993 when the game was still amateur and has gone on to make nearly 300 appearances for the North London club.

The 34-year-old is widely regarded as one of the greatest loose forwards of his generation, if not of all time.

A veteran of three British & Irish Lions tours, Hill amassed 71 caps for England - scored 12 tries - and was an integral part of the side that lifting the Rugby World Cup in 2003.

Since that time, Hill's career has been hampered by injury.

He ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee in a match against London Irish in October 2004 and underwent reconstructive surgery.

The injury sidelined him for the following seven months, but he returned to be named in a Lions touring squad for the third time in 2005.

He was named in the XV for the first Test against the All Blacks - his fifth full Lions cap - but suffered a tour-ending knee injury during the first half.

Although he will be hanging up his boots at the end of the season, Hill has revealed he is currently discussing a future role with Sarries.

"Going into this season, I always knew it was going to be the last one," explained Hill.

"After chatting to the medical staff at the start of the year we agreed it was probably time to give up and we set a set out a goal of playing a reduced number of games over this season and I'm well on course to hit that.

"I've got mixed feelings at the moment because on the one hand I've thoroughly enjoyed my time in rugby; while on the other it's also the start of a new chapter in my life. I've loved being part of the game and at the end of this season it will mark 30 years of me playing the game - 15 for Saracens and 15 for Salisbury.

"I've been chatting to a number of people and organisations to get advice to try and prepare myself for the future as best I can and that has included some very pro-active talks with Saracens about a role with the club.

"This is an important time of my life and I want to see what opportunities are out there but I doubt that I will be able to just walk away from the sport.

"However, we've come to an important part of the season at Saracens and all my attentions will now be focused on that.

"We've not achieved anything yet, but we've put ourselves in a good position in all three competitions and the opportunity is there for the club to enjoy a good season - that's something that we all want."

England coach Brian Ashton lead the tributes to the man nicknamed 'The Silent Assassin'.

"Richard Hill's contribution to England has been a massive one from when he made his international debut against Scotland in 1997 through to his last cap against Australia in 2004," he said.

"But for injuries in the last three years I am sure there would have been more caps, and like many people I admired the way he came back from two long-term injuries to play again for Saracens.

"Richard personifies for me everything that is good about a professional rugby player and I would like, on behalf of the England squad, to wish him every success with whatever he decides to do in the future."

And Rugby Football Union chief executive Francis Baron added: "Richard has been a fantastic ambassador for the game at all levels.

"He has remained close to his home town club in Salisbury and has always appreciated the fact that the community game gave him his start in the junior game before he moved into the professional era so successfully with Saracens, England and the British and Irish Lions."

Hill will become the eighth member of England's 2003 World Cup Final XV to retire following Neil Back, Lawrence Dallaglio, Jason Robinson, Will Greenwood, Matt Dawson, Trevor Woodman and captain Martin Johnson.

Hill, born in Dormansland in Surrey, made his debut in the 1997 Five Nations Championship match against Scotland and won his last cap against Australia in 2004.