Ronald Andrew Hill
Ronald Andrew Hill
was born at Johannesburg on 20 December 1934 and went to Bulawayo with
his parents at the age of three, attending
Milton Junior
and the Technical High School. It was as a flank that he played for
Matabeleland under 19's in 1950 and Rhodesian Schools in 1950-51 before
Bulawayo coach 'Bucky' Buchanan persuaded him to switch to hooker. He
made his debut for
Old Miltonians
in 1952 and remained loyal to
his club throughout his career.
Even after his debut season for Rhodesia in 1956; at the age of twenty
one. Bulawayo's Ronnie Hill was being singled out as a future Springbok
rugby hooker When Attie Botha's Rhodesian team arrived back from its
Currie Cup tour to South Africa that year, manager Fred Jamieson was
particularly full of praise for three forwards — Ed Brophy, Des van
Jaarsveldt and Hill, of whom he said "Springbok selector Jan Lotz was
most impressed and said he had quite a future He will be keeping his eye
on Hill."
Four seasons later, in 1960, the shrewd Lotz had cause to remember his
words of wisdom as he and fellow Springbok selector Maurice Zimmerman
watched Hill — in his first international for Rhodesia — play two
brilliant games at Kitwe and Salisbury against Wilson Whineray's All
Blacks.
Rhodesia lost 9-13 and 14-29 but after the Salisbury match, A C. Parker,
the doyen of South African rugby writers, wrote: "What they saw of
Ronnie Hill's hooking should have convinced the two national selectors
in the record crowd of 23,000 that the Bulawayo man should be a
certainty for the 1960-61 tour to Britain."
Giving a New Zealand viewpoint, Terry McLean wrote: "Thanks very largely
to Ronnie Hill's brilliant hooking and the excellent lineout play of De
Klerk, Roebert and Macdonald the All Blacks found the glories of Glamis
Stadium to be like Mark Twain's death — grossly exaggerated for most of
the first half. Had not the Rhodesian physical condition quite suddenly
given out, the All Blacks might, in fact, have left the field both
sadder and wiser men. What a devil of a time the Rhodesians gave the All
Blacks until the crisis had been reached. Hill is an uncannily brilliant
hooker."
Rhodesia had not been able to emulate those wonderful matches of 1949
when John Morkels team beat the All Blacks 10-8 at Bulawayo and then
drew 3-3 at Salisbury, but the 1960 men did, through their adventurous
style, have the satisfaction of crossing the New Zealanders' line twice.
At the conclusion of their long tour, the All Blacks rated Hill as the
best hooker they had met and the Rhodesian was duly selected to
accompany Avril Malan's Springboks on their tour of the British Isles
and France during the off-season (1960-61). Hill was chosen as
understudy to Abe Malan, but played with telling effect in two
internationals when Malan was sidelined with a knee injury.
The Springboks on tour were: Lionel Wilson, Gideon Wentzel, Michael
Anteime. Hennie van Zyl, Jannie Engelbrecht, Francois Roux, Ian
Kirkpatrick,John Gainsford. Ben van Niekerk. David Stewart, Keith Oxlee,
Charlie Nimb, Dick Lockyear, Piet Uys, Piet du Toit. Fanie Kuhnf Doug
Holton. Mof Myburgh, Abe Malan, Ronnie Hill, Johann Claassen, Avril
Malan (capt), Hendrik van der Merwe, Piet van Zyl, Hugo van Zyl, Martin
Pelser, Frik du Preez, Johannes Botha, Doug Hopwood and Adriaan Baard.
Hooker Bobby Johns was a tour addition when Malan was injured.
Hill wore the Springbok green and gold for the first time in the
opening fixture of the tour against Southern Counties, which was won
29-9. It was shortly before the first international against Wales at the
famous Cardiff Arms Park that Abe Malan injured his knee, though
Springbok worries were allayed when Hill turned in a rattling good game
against North Western Counties, both in and out of the scrum. He was up
to score a try and handed on to Hopwood for another. The tourists won
11-0 and such was the superiority of their pack and the quality of
Hill's hooking that they took the tighthead count by more than a dozen.
Thus Ronnie Hill was chosen to make his Springbok Test debut on 3
December 1960 against Wales when he was to oppose the Newport hooker
Bryn Meredith, the formidable 1959 British Lion who was making his
twenty-seventh appearance for Wales. But the joy of playing an
international at Cardiff Arms Park was dampened by the weather. Maxwell
Price reporting: "The match was played in terrible conditions with the
famous field waterlogged and a sixty-mile-an-hour gale roaring downfield
from the Bristol Channel... Cardiff Arms Park was unfit for habitation
by man or beast"
South Africa eked out a 3-0 victory through a Keith Oxlee penalty and
were deserving winners to retain an unblemished record against Wales in
matches stretching back to 1906.
Maxwell Price, in his book Springboks in the Lion's Den wrote: "Ronnie
Hill, hooking in his first international, was in great form. He took
more tightheads than Meredith (7-3) and was a great held (hero) in mauls
and loose play."
With Malan still not fit. Hill was again called to duty for the second
international against Ireland at Landsdowne Road on 17 December — a
match so memorable for the stirring battle of the Irish forwards. For
the first time, the Springboks really encountered tough opposition in
the pack, and a crowd of more than 35 000 watched the match in ideal
Dublin conditions.
The Springboks lagged 3-0 at half-time through a penalty, but came back
to 3-3 with a desperate try by Gainsford, only managing an 8-3 victory
with a pushover try in injury time. Said E. W. Swanton of the Daily
Telegraph: "No side that leads for a bare ninety seconds of a game and
wins can be other than lucky in the result. Providence was with them."
Hill was replaced by Malan for the final three internationals against
England. Scotland and France and did not play in the only tour loss to
the Barbarians. Thus in sixteen games for the Springboks on tour, the
Rhodesian was never on the losing side. He excelled in both the set and
loose scrums and also went on an unusual try-scoring spree. Having
surprisingly scored only once for Rhodesia in a long career spanning
nine seasons Hill ended up with six tries for the Springboks — then a
record for the most points by a Springbok hooker on an overseas tour.
With Hill's selection for that tour there was a touch of melancholy.
Earlier in the season Rhodesian captain Des van Jaarsveldt had led the
Springboks in the solitary home Test against Scotland and the selection
of two Rhodesians for Springbok sides in one season had been a repeat of
1949 when Salty du Rand and Ryk van Schoor played together, though they
were not Rhodesian-bred like Hill and van Jaarsveldt.
But for van Jaarsveldt that one Test was to be his lot and, typical of
his unselfishness, Hill's first comment on hearing of his own selection
to tour Britain was: "I'm so sorry Des didn't make it. He is a great
player to have alongside you on the field "
Hill went on to play five more Tests for South Africa for a final tally
of seven internationals. As the quickest striker in Southern Africa in
1961 he became the Springboks' number one choice for the home
internationals against Ireland and Australia. Against Ireland the
NewlandsTest was won handsomely 24-8. while the Wallabies were beaten
28-3 at Ellis Park and 23-11 at the Boet Erasmus Stadium at Port
Elizabeth.
The Rhodesian lost his place the following year, but was recalled for
the fourth and final Test against the 1962 British Lions under the
captaincy of Arthur Smith. That Test at Bloemfontein was won 34-14 and
it was only when again recalled for the first Test against John
Thornett's 1963 Wallabies at Ellis Park that Hill played in a losing
Springbok team for the first and only time, the match being lost 9-11.
It was in 1956 that Hill made his debut for the Rhodesian senior side,
going with Attie Botha's team on a four-match tour of South Africa. The
Currie Cup match against Transvaal was lost 3-18 but in the following
friendly against the same province, Rhodesia won 25-11 at Krugersdorp,
when Hill scored the only try of his career for the country. Eastern
Transvaal were beaten 21-6, but Rhodesia went down 0-11 to Northern
Transvaal on a tour that was the swan song for big lock forward John
'Ox' Barritt, who had earned his first cap in 1947.
In 1957 Hill was propped in the scrum on tour in South Africa by the
powerful Andy Macdonald and Reg Stewart with Piet de Klerk and Graham
Roebert. two outstanding locks and line-out jumpers. It was the year
that Rhodesia had a gilt edged wing in Springbok Tom van Vollenhoven and
they convincingly beat both Griquas (15-5) and North Eastern Districts
(17-3) before losing 11-16 to Transvaal with a disputed try.
Although he missed the 1958 international for Rhodesia against France,
Hill continued to emphasise his immense talent as a hooker, seizing his
chance to impress the Springbok selectors in the two matches for
Rhodesia against the All Blacks in 1960, the visitors including such
famed names as Don Clarke and Colin Meads.
In 1961 Rhodesia shaped up to Ronnie Dawson's Irish tourists at Glamis.
They outclassed the home team 24-0 though Ronnie Hill and Macdonald
played creditably. Hill was injured just before Rhodesia's 1962 match
against the British Lions and was replaced by Noel Dollar of Midlands in
his only national appearance.
Hill captained Rhodesia against the 1963 Wallabies in the opening
encounter at Kitwe and his team were well motivated, storming to an 11-6
lead. But the Wallabies hauled back to 11 -all at half-time and went on
to win 22-11, though Hill took the tighthead count 10-7. However, the
classy hooker injured a calf muscle
The 1964 tour to South Africa, when Andy Macdonald was entrusted with
the captaincy, again saw some incredible performances by Hill, who
received magnificent support from Macdonald and Willie van der Merwe.
Hill won the tighthead count 19-1 against Border and in the other three
games raked back 32 balls against the head without reply — an incredible
tour tally of 51 -1. It was also in 1964 that Michel Crauste's Frenchmen
proved too potent for Rhodesia, winning 34-11, though again Hill was
brilliant in taking 10 tighthead heels without reply, while flanker Piet
Greyling — later to become Springbok captain when living in South Africa
— was also outstanding.
Greyling left for South Africa before the start of the 1965 season,
while Hill retired at the same time after a cartilage operation on his
left knee. He was thirty and happily took his family away on holiday for
the first time in nine years. He had played rugby to the exclusion of
all else — "I even cut short my honeymoon to play rugby," he recalled.
He had played seven internationals for the Springboks, five for Rhodesia
and had also been honoured with games for the South African Barbarians,
Quaggas and Rugby Writers' XV. Indeed, it was a proud career that
enriched Rhodesian rugby greatly.
Completing the story of the sporting Hill family, Ronnie's wife Joan, gained her national swimming colours in 1950. Jo-Anne their eldest daughter swam backstroke for Rhodesia for three years, Debbie their second daughter became national diving champion, won a sports scholarship to an American university and represented Zimbabwe in the 1980 Olympic Games, while Sarah-Jane their third child represented Rhodesia at synchronised swimming for four years and is, as far as is known, the youngest individual to have represented this country in a sport.