Rugby Union: Hill to climb his last peak: Enduring internationals set for grand stage

RICHARD HILL knew it was time to go when he lost the yen for a notably rigorous training regime: 200 passes and 50 kicks a day, essential prerequisites for his restoration to both the England team and public affection.

At 33 (his birthday was on Wednesday), the sinner who repented has had enough and there could be no more suitable valedictory stage than Twickenham for this afternoon's Pilkington Cup final against Leicester. Gareth Chilcott having retired five months ago, Hill will become the only one to have played in all eight of Bath's finals since 1984.

And then it will be into coaching, with the Emerging England side and also as part of the post-Rowell regime at the Recreation Ground. 'I must admit that where I used to have the enthusiasm to go out training in all weathers, I've lost it, and when that happens you've lost your edge as well,' he said.

'I used to have a daily routine, Monday to Friday, but there have been times this season when I've let that drop off to the point of not doing it at all. Nowadays I'm more enthusiastic about coaching and if you asked me to go out first thing in the morning and coach a group of lads, I would gladly do it. I never imagined it would happen that way.'

There has been much during a roller-coaster decade in and out of the England team that Hill would never have imagined. He was hardly established in the Bath team when he became the England scrum- half by displacing Nick Youngs on the tour to South Africa in 1984 and by 1987 he was captain.

Hill has long since accepted that he was not ready for it, and his one-match suspension after that year's England- Wales brawl heralded more than two years out of favour. He returned to international rugby only after a period of profound self-appraisal during which he had not liked what he found.

Stuart Barnes, his long- standing half-back partner for Bath, puts the bad old days down to extreme competitiveness, and there is no doubt that Hill flourished as never before once he was unburdened of both captaincy and an overwrought instinct. Walking away, rather than instigating, trouble helped turn him into a vital member of the 1991 World Cup final side.

Which turned out to be the last of the 29 internationals that made him England's most- capped scrum-half. 'I suppose, looking back on it now, it wasn't really a surprise. So much had been built up towards the World Cup that it was extremely difficult once it was over to sustain the necessary levels of training. Some people can get away with less because of their natural ability but I've always had to graft like mad.

'When the World Cup finished, I greeted it with a sigh of relief. I had worked so hard in the previous 18 months that I couldn't help relaxing, and I paid the penalty. Dewi Morris hadn't had a game during the World Cup, so he was hungry to play and that made the difference. He played better than I did between that November and the following January and was selected ahead of me. I could hardly complain.'

Back at Bath, Hill has also found his place under threat, so much so that he has spent as much of this season out of the team as in it. Injuries and Ian Sanders, his Cornish rival, have been a troublesome combination and Hill even considered bowing out along with Chilcott in December.

'During my career I had never really suffered from injuries but this season I've picked up a lot of stupid things. Because of all the time I've given to rugby it's been important to put a lot into work (as a financial consultant in Bristol) and my personal training more or less stopped altogether.

'I had to do a lot of thinking around Christmas when things weren't going well at all. I was out of the side when Gareth finished and I did wonder whether to go with him. It was actually quite a big decision for me but in the end I thought I'd like to finish on a high. There were no guarantees about getting back but it couldn't have worked out better really.

'During the last four or five weeks I've begun to work on my fitness and skills again. But, grateful as I am to have been given the opportunity, it is just for this one game and not that much of a hardship. I won't be letting myself go to seed but going out to do passing and kicking practice is one thing I certainly won't miss.'

English rugby's once-angry young man, mellowed with the years, could not have a bigger, better final stage than Twickenham before 68,000. He sincerely hopes he left the emotion behind when he played for the last time at the Rec against Harlequins a fortnight ago, Hill's 246th first-team game. He prefers to dedicate his own finale to Jack Rowell on the coach's accession to the England managership.

'The feeling before the Quins game was a bit strong and it took me 20 minutes to settle in,' Hill said. 'That was a fantastic day but it's over and done with now and I can go out at Twickenham far more focused about the nitty-gritty of winning. I've had my send-off; now it's back down to business.' For the very last time.

(Photograph omitted)