The cousin of former New Zealand cricket captain Daniel Vettori, David Hill also enjoyed his fair share of success as a proffessional sportsman.
Born in Blenheim and educated at Marlborough Boys' College Hill made his debut for Marlborough as a teenage fullback in 1997. From 1997-99 he played 33 matches for the union, usually at fullback but occasionally at first five eight. Moving to first division Southland in 2000 he switched to the latter position and had an excellent season, setting a new first division point-scoring record (121 points) for the province. A highlight was scoring 26 points in their competitive Ranfurly Shield challenge against Waikato.
He moved to Waikato in 2001, making his Super 12 debut with six appearances for the Chiefs, playing once for N Z Maori and a full season for Waikato. His 180 points for the union made him the top points scorer over all three NPC divisions. He was rewarded with selection for the All Black end of season tour to Ireland, Scotland and Argentina, playing the midweek games against Ireland A and Scotland A. The now coach, carved out a stellar career as a first five that saw him become an All Black although it was just one test. Hill spent most of his career playing for Waikato and the Chiefs and earned his first call up to the test side in 2001.
Hill's New Zealand career finished with 58 games for the Chiefs, 60 for Waikato and over 1500 points in first-class rugby. As well as Waikato's Air New Zealand Cup win in 2006 he had been a member of the Marlborough team that won the NPC 3rd Division in 1997.
Hill headed abroad to join English Premiership club Bristol thereafter and enjoyed a strong spell at the club saw him score 130 points in 33 appearances for the club before he departed England for Japan. In March 2008, he signed for Japanese club Toshiba Brave Lupus along with other former Chiefs and Waikato player Steven Bates.
He spent one season with the Japanese club before joining the Western Force for the 2010 Super Rugby season but returned to Toshiba a year later.
Since his retirement, he has moved into coaching and is currently the Chiefs assistant coach having worked with the NZ u20s previously.
Career
 |
Chiefs Assistant Coach |
2001 - present |
 |
Southland Coach |
|
 |
Waikato Fly Half |
2001 - 2006 |
 |
New Zealand Fly Half |
2006 - 2006 |
 |
Bristol Bears Coach |
2006 - 2008 |
 |
Western Force Fly Half |
2010 - 2010 |
 |
Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo Fly Half |
