People thought I ought to be bitter about that but in the first one, Tom Kiernan was captain and he played magnificently, and on the second tour JPR was braver and better than me, so I didn’t mind.
Lions tours were fantastic, it was such a privilege to be on tour. They both lasted three-and-a-half months so for seven months I played with and enjoyed the company of some of the best players in the world. Even Chico Hopkins! Both tours were very happy tours, we had a great time and we played good rugby and we were reasonably successful. Looking back, that was the highlight of my rugby career. I couldn’t believe I’d been picked. We got a rand for daily expenses. As there was two rand to the pound, so that was the princely sum of 50p. We’d have all gone for nothing, though.
It was during that tour that I acquired the nickname “The Boss”. Ronnie Dawson gave it to me and I still don’t fully understand the reasons why. It caught on though, and to this day none of the players that I went on tour with call me Bob, they call me Boss. It even caught on among the black people in the crowds. As they had the cheapest seats behind the goals, which were nearest to the pitch, I could hear them calling over to me, ‘Boss Hiller, Boss Hiller’. They hated the Springboks so I would gee them up even more. We needed all the support we could get.
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