Frank Hill (13 January 1866 – 20 April 1927) was a Welsh international

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

forward who played club rugby for

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

. Hill won 15 caps for

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

over a period of ten years and was given the team captaincy on four occasions. Hill was baptised as Alperus Frank Hill according to parish records in

Llandaff Llandaff (; cy, Llandaf ; from 'church' and '' Taf'') is a district, community and coterminous electoral ward in the north of Cardiff, capital of Wales. It was incorporated into the city in 1922. It is the seat of the Bishop of Llandaff, whose ...

, and was later educated at

Clifton College ''The spirit nourishes within'' , established = 160 years ago , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent boarding and day school , religion = Christian , president = , head_label = Head of College , head ...

. He was a solicitor by trade, and had a practice on

High Street.Jenkins (1991), pg 71.

International career

Hill was first selected for Wales in a match against Scotland as part of the

1885 Home Nations Championship The 1885 Home Nations Championship was the third series of the rugby union Home Nations Championship. It was contested by England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, but the tournament was not completed. The 1885 Championship was notable for the disp ...

. Under the captaincy of Newport's Charlie Newman, the game was a dull scoreless draw caused by Welsh attempts to kill the game at any opportunity. Hill played in both Welsh matches of the 1886 Championship, but was not chosen during the next year's tournament. In 1888 Hill experienced his first international win, when he was part of the Wales team that beat Scotland at

Rodney Parade Rodney Parade is a stadium in the city of Newport, South Wales, owned and operated by the Welsh Rugby Union. It is located on the east bank of the River Usk in Newport city centre. The ground is on Rodney Road, a short walk from the city's cen ...

. Wales won by a single try, scored by Thomas Pryce-Jenkins in the first half before using the same spoiling tactics they employed in 1885 to prevent Scotland from scoring. In December 1888, Hill was selected to captain Wales against the first Southern Hemisphere touring team to Britain when he faced the New Zealand Māoris. Wales employed the four threequarters system during the game, the first time since it was abandoned after the failure of the tactic against Scotland in 1886. The Welsh were victorious and Hill was given the captaincy for the opening game of the

1889 Home Nations Championship The 1889 Home Nations Championship was the seventh series of the rugby union Home Nations Championship. Three matches were played between 2 February and 2 March. It was contested by Ireland, Scotland and Wales. England were excluded from the Ch ...

to Scotland. Wales lost the game and Hill was replaced for the final game of the season to Ireland by Daniel Griffiths. Hill regained his position and his captaincy in the first match of the 1890 tournament, though missed the away match to England. When he was reselected for the final game of the championship the captaincy was passed to Arthur Gould. Hill missed the next two tournaments, before playing the entirety of the 1893 tournament which saw Wales win all their matches to take the

Triple Crown Triple Crown may refer to: Sports Horse racing * Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing * Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing (United States) ** Triple Crown Trophy ** Triple Crown Productions * Canadian Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing * Trip ...

for the first time. The next season was Hill's last as an international player and although only one of the team that won the Triple Crown the previous year was not reselected, the team was not harmonious. Gould and Hill fell out over scrummaging tactics against England, causing Hill to work against his own packleader,Griffiths (1987), pg 4:7.

Jim Hannan James John Hannan (January 7, 1940 in Jersey City, New Jersey) is an American retired professional baseball player who pitched in Major League Baseball from 1962 to 1971 for the Washington Senators, Detroit Tigers and Milwaukee Brewers. Th ...

, resulting in a massive English victory. Hill's final game was a loss to Ireland in Belfast, in which Hill was given the captaincy.

International matches played

WalesSmith (1980), pg 466. * 1886, 1893, 1894 * 1888, 1890, 1893, 1894 * 1888 * 1885, 1886, 1888, 1889, 1890, 1893, 1894

As referee

In 1889 Hill refereed the encounter between

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

and the touring New Zealand Māoris.Maoris v. Oxford
paperspast.natlib.govt.nz

Bibliography

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hill, Frank Rugby union players from Cardiff Wales international rugby union players Rugby union forwards Wales rugby union captains 1866 births 1927 deaths Cardiff RFC players People educated at Clifton College Welsh rugby union referees