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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Denne historien er fra November 24, 2024-utgaven av The Rugby Paper.
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I always wanted to play an exciting form of rugby
THERE were periods of my career where I felt like I was playing well enough to earn a shot with England. However, if you look at the way England’s gone, even with Marcus Smith now, he gets taken off when he is playing fantastic rugby just because he’s more of a flair player and as a result has a stigma attached.
England must find a way to deliver
WITH Christmas fast approaching, it’s time for us all to look forward to better things and hope we achieve them.
I've still got plenty to give, says Beaumont
JOSH Beaumont prepares to put his body on the festive front line again in the Sale cause revealing his biggest “regret” has been not winning an England cap.
Saracens fight back to overcome Bears
SARACENS secured a pulsating victory over a Hannah Botterman-inspired Bristol Bears to move to within a point of the summit of the table.
Hopkins in snatch it
AFTER the resignation of their popular head coach Toby Booth earlier in the week, Ospreys were given a huge boost when replacement Iestyn Hopkins crashed over with the clock in overtime to condemn their fiercest rivals to yet another defeat in Swansea.
No Mostert? That's got to be a mistake
HERE'S a funny thing: one of the more prominent rugby sites on the world wide web super information highway thingy has just published its list of the 100 best players in the sport. And no, the Spring-bok lock Franco Mostert isn't in it. ALLOWED
Tompkins hits the 200-mark for Saracens
MARK McCall has hailed Nick Tompkins, who makes his 200th appearance today for Saracens against champions Northampton at StoneX Stadium, as the epitome of a player the club aims to produce.
Anguish for Chiefs as Sale march on
GEORGE Ford’s educated right boot proved hugely instrumental as Sale subjected rock-bottom Exeter to yet more misery and gloom.
Rampaging Bears tear Tigers apart
BRISTOL produced a memorable display of attacking rugby which left Leicester thoroughly shaken and stirred.
England's outsiders deserve a chance niveste cu
IT’S just six weeks before the start of the 2025 Six Nations, and since Steve Borthwick became England head coach his main message to the media has been we want to get better. However, by the end of the autumn series, Borthwick had become a bit more critical, saying that England were not fit enough, and were not carrying what they had been doing in training into matches.
