Q&A with Richard Hill (From Times Series)

Q&A with Richard Hill

2:15pm Friday 9th May 2008 in

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Saracens, England and Lions flanker Richard Hill talks to the Watford Observer on his past, present and future as he enters retirement this weekend.

What are you going to miss most during your retirement?

"I'm going to miss the active side of being involved in a rugby team and the identity of being involved as a playing member of the team.

"What my involvement will be in the coming months and the coming years is still unknown. I'm well aware it is not going to be the same involvement I've had for the past 30 years."

How have you been preparing for life after rugby?

"I suppose I thought I would have had my future sorted before now but it is not as clear cut as that. I know plenty of people who I've gone to school or college with and I'm well aware it is a different world to what we have all experienced before.

"Nearly a year ago I was more active in terms of people I was meeting. I went to these meetings to find out what their jobs involved and what they think of me, while at the same time trying to find a route where I would find employment. Those opportunities are still being discussed, I have been very open with everyone I have spoke to and am still prepared to speak to anyone.

"It is a very daunting task (preparing for future). There is an element of our job that is not the norm - part of our job is to rest. I'm well aware my lifestyle would have been a lot different had I not been a professional rugby player. I would have been a social rugby player and more active at weekends and in midweek but my number one priority has always been my performance on the pitch. So therefore you might have nights where you are invite to things and you turn them down or times where you turn up and come home early. The days of popping home at 2pm and meeting up with friends at 3pm for a coffee are on their way out now."

What feelings are you experiencing at the moment?

"I'm well aware it could be an emotional day on Saturday. It was certainly a feeling I didn't expect after the Munster game. Once that final whistle went it really did hit me. I suppose I would prefer that not to happen again but I can't guarantee that - I know what I am like.

How I show myself on a rugby pitch has been a discreet thing over the years but I suppose this is different.

"I didn't expect to react the way I did after the Munster game particularly as I didn't foresee that as my last game - I always knew there was going to be something else to come. The magnitude of the game and knowing we played our part in Saracens' history all contributed. It was a shame we didn't make the final but that's sport."

What did you want to be when you were growing up?

"As a young child I wanted to be a farmer. In secondary school education was getting a bit more serious but unfortunately it never caught up on me. It was one of those things whereby you do the tests and get a list of jobs that are suited to you. I just plucked one out of the air just to keep people happy.

"As my interest grew in sport it took me a year longer to acquire my A-levels and the natural progression was sport. I got my degree (in Sports Science and Geography) with sport very much in mind and at that stage the focus would have either been on personal training or becoming a teacher."

What are your career highlights for club and country?

"The World Cup with England but also the whole year of 2003. Also winning the series (with the Lions) down in South Africa in 1997 and the Lions 2001 tour, where my standing in world rugby increased quite considerably.

"For Saracens there were the early days where you just loved being part of the team, the camaraderie we had as a place that was very unfashionable and all of a sudden, with the input of Nigel Wray, we are up there competing on a level with the best teams in the country.

"The Heineken Cup semi final was definitely the biggest game of my Saracens career while the 1998 (Tetley's Bitter Cup) final win was a great moment for the club, even though I missed out with a back injury."

Low points?

"The season Francois Pienaar departed Saracens was quite a stressful second half of the season because we'd stuck around in the relegation zone for a long, long time. Myself, Kyran Bracken and Tim Horan along with a couple of the coaches that were at Saracens at the time formed a group that looked after coaching.

"That was quite stressful - your league position is not good, you are worrying about your future, you are trying to plan training sessions and pick teams your friends are involved in. You are trying to get everything right and it just wasn't happening."

Any bad habits you have picked up during your career?

"There is a misconception about me being grumpy but that is just concentration and having high standards and people not quite matching them.

"There is no doubt as I approach a game I am not the easiest man to live with and Claire (Hill's wife) will vouch for that. I came off the pitch against the Ospreys having got the man-of-the-match award to a text message of I forgive you for being an absolute **** for the last two days, from Claire'."

Who have been your biggest rugby and sporting inspirations?

"Like any kid playing sport you watch players in your position that are playing for England at the time and you think maybe one day I could be as good as them or you went around shouting their names pretending to be them. Peter Winterbottom and Dean Richards were two of those characters.

"Once you start playing on the same level as these guys the last thing on your mind is having them as iconic figures. You give players respect and are aware of what they have achieved but you want to be as good, if not better than them.

"Other English icons for me was Ian Botham and Daley Thompson while footballers I admired while I was growing up were John Barnes and Ian Rush."

Who was your favourite player you played with at Saracens?

"Tony Diprose. We played rep rugby and our careers very much followed the same path. We rented a place together for a couple of years so I got to know him very well. I also became great friends with Kevin Sorrell. He and I go fishing together but we haven't been for over a year."

If a film of your life was to be made which actor would you pick to play you?

"Harrison Ford. He is quite straight up and down isn't he? He's got a bit of adventure in him every now and again. I'm thinking along the lines of his more serious films. There is the one with the IRA (Patriot Games) and The Fugitive where he plays a straight forward doctor."

What are your thoughts on the young pair vying to fill your shoes, Don Barrell and David Seymour?

"These guys have got a good future. As with any professional rugby player coming through it's working out your short, medium and long-term goals and seeing what needs to be done immediately in order to progress in the future.

"They've got great talent but there are parts of their game that will need enhancing, but that is the beauty of having this long pre-season that is coming up now. They are going to be in good competition against one another and fighting fit."

Looking back, would you have done anything differently?

"You have to react on your feet to that sort of thing. I've had periods in my career where I have been playing rep rugby and the next season you move up an age group and there is a lot of expected of you but you don't live up to it. That is just life.

"There have been other points where I have had to reflect on the statement that has been made in a post-tour report and just take it on the chin and say ok, I hear what you are saying. I will take my part in the responsibility because it ultimately rides with me and I'll have to be more professional.' Some of them took place in amateur times and you are trying to act like a professional without getting the money."

Where do you see Saracens in two years time?

"You would like to think the vast majority of the club will be the same in terms of management and playing personnel - I see that as a key feature in building a successful team.

"The continuity and the success Eddie as a coach has had will hopefully pay dividends and in a two year period you would want to be seeing the success of that, building on from the two semi finals we've had this year."