James Hilterbrand (born 21 May 1989) is an Australian-born

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

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 ...

player, currently playing for

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

Shute Shield The Shute Shield is a semi-professional rugby union competition in Sydney, Australia. It is the premier club competition in New South Wales. The Shute Shield is awarded to the winning team from the Sydney premiership grand final held at the end ...

side Manly and the United States rugby union team. His regular position is hooker, however he can also play as a prop.

Youth

Hilterbrand was born and grew up in

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

, and played for

at junior rugby level. He represented them at Under-16 level in 2004 and 2005, at Under-18 level in the Australian Schools Championship Division II in 2005 and 2006, and at Under-21 level in 2007.

Playing career

Manly

Hilterbrand then moved to

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, where he joined

side Manly for the 2008 season. He played for their Colts side in 2008, before working his way up the various grade levels, breaking into their Grade I side in 2011 as they reached the semi-final of the Shute Shield. Hilterbrand was the regular starting hooker for Manly in the 2012 Shute Shield, helping them to second position on the ladder before they were eliminated from the competition by Southern Districts in the preliminary final. He was also selected to represent a Sydney Anchors team against NSW Country.

Western Force

Hilterbrand moved to

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

to join the

Western Force The Western Force is an Australian professional rugby union team based in Perth, Western Australia, currently competing in Super Rugby Pacific. They previously played in Super Rugby from 2006 until they were axed from the competition in 2017. ...

on an Extended Playing Squad contract for the

2013 Super Rugby season The 2013 Super Rugby season was the third season of the new 15-team format for the Super Rugby competition involving teams from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. The tournament was won by the Chiefs, who defeated the Canberra-based Brumb ...

. He was named on the bench for their match against the in

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

, but remained unused for the match. He made his

Super Rugby Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Building on various Southern Hem ...

debut the following week, however, coming on as a late replacement in a 7–41 defeat to the in

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

. He was named on the bench for a further five matches in the competition, but failed to make an appearance in any of those. He featured in one more match in the competition, starting their 21–15 victory over the Brumbies in Perth. At the conclusion of the 2013 Super Rugby season, Hilterbrand returned to Sydney to make four appearances for Manly in the 2013 Shute Shield.

Edinburgh

On 26 August 2013, Scottish

Pro12 The United Rugby Championship (URC) is an annual rugby union competition involving professional teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales. The current name was adopted in 2021 when the league expanded to include four South Afr ...

side

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

confirmed that Hilterbrand joined them on a two-year contract. He made his debut for Edinburgh in their

2013–14 Pro12 The 2013–14 Pro12 (also known as the ''RaboDirect Pro12'' for sponsorship reasons) was the 13th season of the Pro12 rugby union competition originally known as the Celtic League, the fourth with its current 12-team format, and the third with Rab ...

Round Three match against Welsh side

Ospreys The osprey (''Pandion haliaetus''), , also called sea hawk, river hawk, and fish hawk, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey with a cosmopolitan range. It is a large raptor reaching more than in length and across the wings. It is brown o ...

, coming on for the final sixteen minutes as they suffered a 10–44 loss. He made a total of thirteen appearances in the competition, starting two of those, as Edinburgh finished the competition in 8th place in the table. He also made one appearance for Edinburgh in the

2013–14 Heineken Cup The 2013–14 Heineken Cup was the 19th and final season of the Heineken Cup, the annual rugby union European club competition for clubs from the top six nations in European rugby. The pool stage began on 11 October 2013 and ran through to 17–19 ...

in their 12–23 defeat to

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ...

. Hilterbrand made ten appearances for Edinburgh in the

2014–15 Pro12 The 2014–15 Pro12 (also known as the ''Guinness Pro12'' for sponsorship reasons) was the 14th season of the professional rugby union competition originally known as the Celtic League, and the fifth with its current four-country format. It was ...

competition, as they matched their 2013–14 performance by finishing in eighth position in the table. He also made appearances against and

London Welsh London Welsh Rugby Football Club ( cy, Clwb Rygbi Cymry Llundain) was a rugby union club formed in 1885. Based in Old Deer Park, Richmond-upon-Thames, London Welsh RFC played in the English Premiership in the 2012–13 and 2014–15 seasons, ...

in the

2014–15 European Rugby Challenge Cup The 2014–15 European Rugby Challenge Cup was the first season of the European Rugby Challenge Cup, the annual rugby union competition. It is the 19th season of second tier pan-European club competition in general, as the competition replaces the ...

, in which Edinburgh finished top of their group. Hilterbrand left the Scottish club at the end of the 2014–15 season and returned to Australia to once again represent Manly in the Shute Shield competition, making nine appearances. He returned to Edinburgh on a temporary contract as cover during the

2015 Rugby World Cup The 2015 Rugby World Cup was the eighth Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial rugby union world championship. The tournament was hosted by England from 18 September to 31 October. Of the 20 countries competing in the World Cup in 2011, there was onl ...

; however, he failed to make any competitive appearances for the side. He was also named in the squad for the

2015 National Rugby Championship The 2015 National Rugby Championship (known as the Buildcorp National Rugby Championship for sponsorship reasons) was the second season of Australia's National Rugby Championship, involving nine professional rugby union teams from around Austra ...

, but failed to feature in the competition.

Kings

In November 2015, it was announced that Hilterbrand was one of South African Super Rugby side the ' new acquisitions prior to the

2016 Super Rugby season The 2016 Super Rugby season was the 21st season of Super Rugby and the first season featuring an expanded 18-team format. It was also the first season that teams outside Australia, New Zealand and South Africa featured, with the Jaguares from Ar ...

International

Hilterbrand was born in Australia and represented their Under-18 team in 2007. In addition, he was also eligible to represent and the . In February 2016, United States head coach John Mitchell included Hilterbrand as a reserve in the matchday squad for their opening match of the

2016 Americas Rugby Championship The 2016 Americas Rugby Championship was the first series of the Americas Rugby Championship (sometimes informally called the "Americas Six Nations", a reference to Europe's Six Nations Championship), a new annual western hemisphere rugby union c ...

against , but he failed to make an appearance in the match. He made his international debut off the bench against Canada the following week. Hilterbrand retired from international rugby following the

2019 Rugby World Cup The 2019 Rugby World Cup was the ninth edition of the Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's rugby union teams. It was hosted in Japan from 20 September to 2 November in 12 venues all across the country. The opening match ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hilterbrand, James Australian rugby union players American rugby union players United States international rugby union players Living people 1989 births Sportspeople from Adelaide Rugby union players from South Australia Rugby union props Rugby union hookers Edinburgh Rugby players Western Force players New South Wales Waratahs players Australian people of Scottish descent Australian expatriate rugby union players in Scotland Sydney (NRC team) players San Diego Legion players New England Free Jacks players 2019 Rugby World Cup players Manly RUFC players