Dave Hilton (rugby union)

Last updated

Dave Hilton
Birth nameDavid Ivor Walter Hilton
Date of birth (1970-04-03) 3 April 1970 (age 53)
Place of birth Bristol, England
Height5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Weight234 lb (106 kg)
Rugby union career
Position(s) Prop
Senior career
YearsTeamApps(Points)
?-1999
1999–2003
2003-2008		 Bath
Glasgow Warriors
Bristol
92
49
(10)
(40)
International career
YearsTeamApps(Points)
1995-2002 Scotland 42 (5)
Coaching career
YearsTeam
?–2011
2012–present		 Dings Crusaders
Moseley

David Ivor Walter Hilton (born 3 April 1970) is a former professional rugby union player who played as a prop. Although he was born in England, he qualified to play for the Scotland national team by virtue of a grandfather who he believed was born in Scotland; however, it later emerged that his grandfather's birth was registered in England. Despite this, Hilton completed a residency period to restore his Scottish eligibility, and he went on to win a total of 42 caps in a seven-year international career. At club level, he played for Bath, Glasgow and Bristol.

Contents

Career

Professional career

During his club career, Hilton won the Heineken Cup for Bath in 1998, [1] as well as league and domestic cup successes for the same club.

He left Bath and played for Glasgow in the Welsh-Scottish League and then the Celtic League.

After being capped for Scotland on residency criteria he continued to play for Glasgow until 2003 [2] before then returning to England to play for Bristol, until his retirement in 2008.

International career

Hilton won his first cap for Scotland against Canada on 21 January 1991 and his 42nd and final cap against South Africa on 16 November 2002. Hilton originally believed he qualified for Scotland as his grandfather was born there. [3]

However, in 2000 - and after 41 caps for Scotland - Hilton discovered his grandfather's birth was registered in Bristol and not Edinburgh as he believed. Hilton claimed that his grandfather was born 16 weeks before the Bristol registration but he could not prove whether or not his grandfather was born in Scotland. [4] Without adequate documentation he did not qualify to play for Scotland under the international eligibility rules. [5]

At around the same time it was discovered that Welsh internationals Shane Howarth and Brett Sinkinson were ineligible to play for Wales under the grandparent rules. The resulting scandal encompassing Hilton and the others was named Grannygate [6] and was embarrassing for the players and rugby unions alike. However both the SRU and the WRU escaped without punishment. [7] As part of a subsequent TV investigation, Hilton's great-grandfather was traced to Glasgow giving credence to Hilton's Scottish ancestry. [4]

Hilton had already moved from Bath to Glasgow to play for Glasgow Caledonians, later renamed Glasgow Rugby, a year before the scandal broke so he had already a period of residence in Scotland. He had then to complete another two years in order to qualify again for Scotland under the three-year residency rule. After that period of residency Hilton played once more for Scotland in a victory over South Africa in 2002.

Coaching career

In 2012 Hilton joined Moseley as forwards coach and occasional replacement prop, having previously been coach at Dings Crusaders. Hilton also coaches Clifton RFC Under-14s, who in the 2016/17 season won the Gloucester County Cup, the Nando's Cup, the Bristol Combination 7s Cup and were finalists in the Bristol Combination Cup. Clifton later went on to win the Bristol Combination cup as well as another Nando's Cup and three more Bristol combination 7s cups.

Hilton now coaches Bristol Bears Women in the Tyrell's Premier 15s completion.

Related Research Articles

Thomas James Smith was a professional rugby union player who played as a loosehead prop. Born in London, he played for Glasgow Warriors, Caledonia Reds and Northampton Saints at club level, and for Scotland at international level. He also went on two tours with the British & Irish Lions in 1997 and 2001. After retiring from playing, he went into coaching.

Grannygate is the name given to several different sporting scandals, typically regarding eligibility of players for national teams. A rugby union version of Grannygate occurred in Wales in March 2000, a rugby league version occurred in New Zealand in 2006.

Andrew Douglas Nicol, is a former Scotland international rugby union player. A scrum-half, Nicol won 23 caps for Scotland and had brief spells as a replacement on two British & Irish Lions tours.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bristol Bears</span> English rugby union football club

Bristol Bears are a professional rugby union club based in Bristol, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Josh Lewsey</span> British Lions & England international rugby union player

Owen Joshua Lewsey MBE is an English former rugby union player who represented England and the British and Irish Lions. Lewsey is a former British Army Officer.

Phil Greening is an English former rugby union footballer who played as a hooker. Greening finished his rugby career with London Wasps in 2005. During his career he earned 24 caps for England, as well as going to Australia with the British and Irish Lions in 2001.

Hefin O'Hare is a Welsh former professional rugby union and rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s. He played representative level rugby union (RU) for Scotland 7s, and at club level for New Brighton F.C., Leeds Carnegie, Glasgow Warriors, and the Scottish amateur sides Edinburgh Academical Football Club, Dundee HSFP and Glasgow Hutchesons Aloysians RFC, as a wing, or centre, and representative level rugby league (RL) for Wales, and at club level for Leeds Rhinos, and Huddersfield Giants, as a fullback, wing, centre, hooker, or loose forward.

Darren Crompton is a retired professional rugby union player. He played for Richmond, Bath, Cardiff Blues, Bristol, Weston and has also represented England at many levels.

Cameron George Mather is a rugby union footballer who plays in the back row. He won eleven caps for Scotland between 1999 and 2004.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nathan Hughes</span> Rugby player

Nathan William Jeremy Hughes is a professional rugby union player who is currently playing in the Japan Rugby League One side Ricoh Black Rams having left Bristol Bears in 2022. Born in Fiji he qualified to play for England on residency and won 22 caps between 2016 and 2019, however due to the amendment in international selection by the WRU, Hughes hopes to participate in the France 2023 RWC for his home nation. He plays as a flanker, a number 8 or at lock.

The 1996–97 season was the first in the history of the Glasgow Warriors as a professional side. The Warriors rugby union provincial side was created by turning the amateur provincial side Glasgow District into a professional outfit. During this season, the newly professional side competed as Glasgow Rugby.

The 2008-09 season saw Glasgow Warriors compete in the competitions: the Magners Celtic League and the European Champions Cup, the Heineken Cup.

The 1999–2000 season is the fourth in the history of the Glasgow Warriors as a professional side. During this season the young professional side competed as Glasgow Caledonians.

The 2000–01 season is the fifth in the history of the Glasgow Warriors as a professional side. During this season the young professional side competed as Glasgow Caledonians; the last time they would use that name.

Mike Beckham is a Cook Islands former international rugby union player for Glasgow Warriors at the Loosehead Prop position.

Jonathan Stuart is an English born former Scotland 'A' international rugby union player who played for Glasgow Warriors, then Glasgow Caledonians, at the Centre position.

Graydon Staniforth is a former Australian Sevens international rugby union player and now coach who played fullback and on the wing for Glasgow Warriors.

Jamie Bhatti is a Scottish professional rugby union player who plays as a prop for United Rugby Championship club Glasgow Warriors and the Scotland national team.

The 2019–20 season will see Glasgow Warriors compete in the competitions: the Guinness Pro14 and the European Champions Cup. Due to the coronavirus pandemic the season was postponed in May 2020. It continued with a very restricted season finale in August 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2022–23 EPCR Challenge Cup</span> Rugby union competition

The 2022–23 EPCR Challenge Cup was the 9th edition of the EPCR Challenge Cup, an annual second-tier rugby union competition for professional clubs. Including the predecessor competition, the original European Challenge Cup, this is the 27th edition of European club rugby's second-tier competition.

References

  1. ↑ "The Third Heineken Cup Final". epcrugby.com. 31 January 1998. Archived from the original on 26 October 2016. Retrieved 24 February 2017.
  2. ↑ "Glasgow Warriors | David Hilton".
  3. ↑ "IRB to decide on Hilton case". The Irish Times. 24 March 2000.
  4. 1 2 "My Life in Rugby: Dave Hilton – former Scotland, Bristol, Bath and Glasgow prop". therugbypaper.co.uk. 20 September 2012.
  5. ↑ "Eligibility row hits Scotland". BBC News. 23 March 2000.
  6. ↑ "10 years on from Grannygate". walesonline. 1 April 2010.
  7. ↑ "Unions avoid fines over 'grannygate' saga". ESPN scrum.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.