David Ivor Walter Hilton (born 3 April 1970) is a former professional

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

player who played as a

prop A prop, formally known as a (theatrical) property, is an object actors use on stage or screen during a performance or screen production. In practical terms, a prop is considered to be anything movable or portable on a stage or a set, distinct ...

. 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 Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

and

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

Career

Professional career

During his club career, Hilton won the

Heineken Cup The European Rugby Champions Cup (known as the Investec Champions Cup for sponsorship reasons) is an annual rugby union tournament organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the top-tier competition for clubs who compete in a pre ...

for Bath in 1998, as well as league and domestic cup successes for the same club. He left

and played for Glasgow in the Welsh-Scottish League and then the

Celtic League The Celtic League is a pan-Celtic organization, founded in 1961, that aims to promote modern Celtic identity and culture in Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Brittany, Cornwall and the Isle of Man – referred to as the Celtic nations; it places pa ...

. After being capped for Scotland on residency criteria he continued to play for Glasgow until 2003 before then returning to England to play for

, until his retirement in 2008.

International career

Hilton won his first cap for Scotland against

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

on 21 January 1991 and his 42nd and final cap against

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

on 16 November 2002. Hilton originally believed he qualified for Scotland as his grandfather was born there. 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. Without adequate documentation he did not qualify to play for Scotland under the international eligibility rules. 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 and was embarrassing for the players and rugby unions alike. However both the SRU and the WRU escaped without punishment. As part of a subsequent TV investigation, Hilton's great-grandfather was traced to Glasgow giving credence to Hilton's Scottish ancestry. Hilton had already moved from

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 Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

in a victory over South Africa in 2002.

Coaching career

In 2012 Hilton joined

Moseley Moseley ( ') is an affluent suburb in south Birmingham, England, south of the city centre. It is located within the eponymous Moseley ward of the constituency of Birmingham Hall Green and Moseley (UK Parliament constituency), Hall Green and ...

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.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hilton, Dave 1970 births Living people Bath Rugby players Bristol Bears players Birmingham Moseley Rugby players Scotland international rugby union players Scottish rugby union players Glasgow Warriors players Rugby union players from Bristol Sports scandals in Scotland English rugby union coaches English rugby union players English people of Scottish descent 1999 Rugby World Cup players 1995 Rugby World Cup players Rugby union props Kirkcaldy RFC players