Hull's world full of hope : Rugby diary

IN AN era when continuity is the buzzword to the England selection policy, Paul Hull seems to be a throwback to bygone days when you could drop one pass and be heard of no more. Except Hull played three internationals and it is hard to remember whether he dropped anything.

Hull was fourth-choice full-back a year ago, behind Jon Callard, Ian Hunter and David Pears, but was up to No1 for the summer tour to South Africa where he was one of England's few success stories. Now that he cannot even get on the bench, his priority is simply to get a place among the 26 going to South Africa. Frustrating? "I'm not happy, but that's obvious really. With the World Cup coming up, though, motivation's not a problem. I'll just have to keep playing well in the England A team."

Hunter and Pears dropped out with injuries last year; Hull's mistake was to follow suit. He damaged an Achilles tendon against Canada in December, on came Mike Catt, scored two tries and kept his place when the next England team was announced in January. "I just got a phone call from Jack Rowell and John Elliott and they explained that they just wanted to carry on where they left off from Canada," he said.

The only time Hull has seen the England team since then was when the A-team squad met the England squad in Richmond two weeks ago. Hull and Catt had a drink together, the fact that they were friends from the South African tour helping.

Derek Eves, Hull's captain at Bristol, has been impressed with Hull's reaction: "He won't let it get him down." Hull, after all, has experience of England disappointment: he went on the ill- fated tour of Argentina in 1990, played out of position at stand-off, and disappeared from national contention for three years.

The latest is that competition is hotting up again. Pears is fit again and Hunter played his first comeback game yesterday. Hull, who once had trials at Southampton FC, may reflect that rugby, also, is a funny old game.

WHOEVER does end up in the full-back spot at the World Cup might bear in mind some revolutionary work being carried out with the Wallabies. The kicking guru Dave Alred has developed a new high ball that will swirl in its ascent, making the catching of it a formidable task. How it works remains a secret. "It's something I've been working on for a number of years," Alred said, "And I'm certainly not going to put my intellectual property around."

Work on Kyran Bracken's new passing technique continues apace. The new pass - less backlift, more wrists - is practised on Clifton Downs once a week with Richard Hill, the former England scrum-half. Hill says Bracken is a quick learner and that the finished article will be similar to Robert Jones's pass but better. "It is yet to be unveiled," he said. "Our target is the World Cup. You'll know it when you see it."

NO ONE can bad-mouth a referee these days, not even the touch-judge. At Dorchester's derby game against Sherborne last weekend, a touch-judge gave the ref his opinion and was sent off. The Sherborne captain Mike Burks, however, has seen worse at his old club, Crediton, where one touch- judge has become legend. In an important league fixture with Combe Down five years ago, a Crediton winger scored a try despite being tackled into touch. The touch-judge happened to miss the incident as he was at the back of the stand locked in deep embrace with his girlfriend. The try turned the game and Crediton won.