David Hill
David Hill was a solid five eight and quality goalkicker who, though having only two brief spells with the All Blacks, was a respected player over a decade.
Born in Blenheim and educated at Marlborough Boys’ College Hill made his debut for Marlborough as a teenage fullback in 1997. From 1997-99 he played 33 matches for the union, usually at fullback but occasionally at first five eight. Moving to first division Southland in 2000 he switched to the latter position and had an excellent season, setting a new first division point scoring record (121 points) for the province. A highlight was scoring 26 points in their competitive Ranfurly Shield challenge against Waikato.
He moved to Waikato in 2001, making his Super 12 debut with six appearances for the Chiefs, playing once for N Z Maori and a full season for Waikato. His 180 points for the union made him the top points scorer over all three NPC divisions. He was rewarded with selection for the All Black end of season tour to Ireland, Scotland and Argentina, playing the midweek games against Ireland “A” and Scotland “A”. Fullback Ben Blair was the preferred goalkicker in those matches.
Over the next three seasons 2002 Hill shared the first five eight position with Bay of Plenty’s Glen Jackson for the Chiefs and with Derek Maisey and Stephen Donald for Waikato but was not called upon at national level apart from two appearances for N Z Maori in Canada in 2004. He was switched to second five eight midway through the 2005 Super 12 competition and thereafter played the bulk of his rugby in that position. He was though back at first five for two matches for N Z Maori in 2005, against Fiji and in the first ever win by the Maori over the Lions. He also toured Australia with the Junior All Blacks, though rising star Luke McAlister was preferred as the starting second five eight in the two “tests” against Australia “A”.
Hill missed the start of the 2006 Super 14 because of illness but returned for the last few rounds. He was a surprise call up to an All Black squad expanded because of tests on three consecutive weekends, the third in Argentina, and came on as a late substitute in the second test against Ireland. Not required for the 2006 Tri-Nations tests he finished the season with a string of strong performances for Waikato, ending on a high note by convincingly winning the new provincial competition, the Air New Zealand Cup. He then left New Zealand to link up with the Bristol club in England.
David Hill’s New Zealand career finished with 58 games for the Chiefs, 60 for Waikato and over 1500 points in first class rugby. As well as Waikato’s Air New Zealand Cup win in 2006 he had been a member of the Marlborough team that won the NPC 3rd Division in 1997.
Profile by Lindsay Knight for the New Zealand Rugby Museum.
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FULL NAME
David William Hill
BORN
Monday, 31 July 1978 in Blenheim
AGE
31
PHYSICAL
1.88m, 99kg
POSITION
First five-eighth
LAST SCHOOL
Marlborough College
RUGBY CLUB
(First made All Blacks from)
Waikato University
PROVINCE
Waikato
ALL BLACK DEBUT
Tuesday, 13 November 2001
v Ireland 'A' at Belfast
aged 23 years, 105 days
INTERNATIONAL DEBUT
Saturday, 17 June 2006
v Ireland at Auckland
aged 27 years, 321 days
LAST TEST
Saturday, 17 June 2006
v Ireland at Auckland
aged 27 years, 321 days
ALL BLACK TESTS
1 (0 as Captain)
ALL BLACK GAMES
2 (0 as Captain)
TOTAL ALL BLACK MATCHES
3 (0 as Captain)
ALL BLACK TEST POINTS
0pts
ALL BLACK GAME POINTS
0pts
TOTAL ALL BLACK POINTS
0pts
ALL BLACK NUMBER
1006
http://stats.allblacks.com/asp/Profile.asp?ABID=1008
Also
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Hill_(rugby_union)
http://www.bristolrugby.co.uk/5537.p...uderef=dynamic
Supporter" starring the #SeaOfBlue
Originally Posted by Woody
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