Rugby Union: Hill back to scrap for place in pack

A former England flanker wants to reclaim his Test position after six months out of action with a back injury.

RICHARD HILL had wasted quite enough time for one career, thank you very much. Ninety seconds or so into his Premiership comeback match against Northampton last month, he dumped Paul Grayson on his derriere with a trademark "Good afternoon and welcome to sunny Watford" tackle.

Almost in the next breath, he charged down a panicky attempted clearance kick from a now visibly agitated England outside-half. Six months of injury frustration had been erased in a six-minute exhibition of the flanker's art. Someone should have framed it. It scarcely mattered that Hill faded from view in the latter stages of that contest, for he and his Saracens colleagues had pocketed the two points long before the interval.

But if the most cultured open side in British rugby is to revisit the mountain tops he scaled during last year's Lions triumph in South Africa - indeed, if he is to reclaim his England shirt from the miniature buzz bomb known as Neil Back - he will need to paint a fuller picture on the 80-minute canvas, starting against Leicester at Vicarage Road tomorrow.

There could be no bigger game for Hill at this stage of his rehabilitation, not least because he will come face to face - or, rather, chest to face - with his old mate, Neil - should Back overcome his own, less serious, injury concerns. The fact that England are as handsomely endowed in the back-row department as they are worryingly shrivelled in other areas, notably out wide on the wing, means that Test places are now at a premium. Clive Woodward, the national coach, will have his eyes peeled.

Typically, Hill prefers to discuss the match in its collective context. "I don't think we've even come close to fulfiling our capabilities this season, although there has been a steady improvement in form," he says. "Leicester will demand more of us and that explains the sharp edge amongst the squad during this week's training. It's far too early to start talking about crucial or decisive games, but we're all very aware that this one will put our own title credentials into perspective. We badly need to win."

Back in February, Hill helped his side negotiate another difficult "must- win" encounter, a Tetley's Bitter Cup quarter-final at Richmond they contrived to sneak by six points. He would not play again until the end of the summer. The second half of the Five Nations' Championship was a complete write- off, as was the compelling Premiership run-in with Newcastle. Hill also missed Saracens' joyous surge towards Twickenham glory in the Tetley's Cup, a savage disappointment for a one-club loyalist.

"I'd been experiencing some minor discomfort in my lower back and on the way to the Richmond game, it suddenly became so intense that I had to lie down in the aisle of the coach," he recalled. "For some strange reason, I got through the afternoon without too much hassle, but I was in trouble again on the way back. I just couldn't bear to stay in a normal sitting position. You know there's something wrong when you spend an entire coach trip stretched out on the floor.

"The doctors diagnosed a bulging disc and said it was rubbing on a nerve. Surgery was the only option; the pain was spreading into my legs and I couldn't lead a normal daily life, let alone play rugby. I couldn't sit and I couldn't sleep. It was hellish. I had the operation in March and, quite honestly, it couldn't have come soon enough."

But there would be no short cut to full fitness; Hill was warned off running and gym work for several weeks and packed off to the swimming pool instead. "Nightmare. Total nightmare. I am not, repeat not, a swimmer. I spent weeks ploughing up and down the slow lane of Southgate Baths, getting to know quite a few of the old folk who were regulars there. They would spend all session racing past me and smiling at me over their shoulders. Eventually, I found some much needed privacy in a local school pool."

Embarrassment might have been the least of Hill's mental torments. "According to the specialists, a number of sportsmen have suffered psychologically as a direct result of my type of condition and the long recovery process involved. Even now, I have to watch my step and not take any liberties with my training. There are certain very common exercises with weights - squats, for example - that I can no longer perform because of the potential for stress on my lower back. I've been told I'll have to be very observant for the rest of my career.

"I'll live with it, though; I'm playing with a fair amount of confidence and every game I complete, my self-belief goes up another notch. If my back is going to flare up again, it will do so pretty quickly. At least I know where I stand. The more trouble-free rugby I play, the better the future looks."

It will look very bright indeed if Woodward picks him for the opening World Cup qualifier with the Netherlands at Huddersfield in five weeks. Along with a pack full of other first-choice forwards - Lawrence Dallaglio, Jason Leonard, Martin Johnson and the ubiquitous Back - Hill is coming to the mini-tournament fresh, fit and well-rested. The selectors' decisions will come down to form, pure and simple.

"We'd all been talking about the need for six weeks off and while I rather overdid it by taking the best part of six months, the break served its purpose. You can't meet the physical challenge of rugby week in, week out, all year, every year; at some point, you have to take a breather and get down to concentrating on a few fundamentals, like restoring your strength and your stamina. The science of physical preparation is now so advanced that if you can spend some quality time in the gym, you can do your career a real favour.

"Having said that, though, it will be a long time before I feel any desire to sit in a stand. When you're used to playing rugby, you can only watch so much. I'm very grateful and very relieved to be involved again."