Dream Team: Richard Hill – former Bath & England scrum-half

1. Gareth Chilcott – I liked forwards who frightened the opposition and Gareth scared the hell out of them. Fortunately he was always on my side!
2. Graham Dawe – In the 1987 battle of Cardiff, he was in the thick of it. An uncompromising farmer with massive hands who used to make the six-hour round trip from Cornwall to train four times a week.
3. Phil Blakeway – A proplayer before his time with huge biceps – always on show as he’d roll his sleeves up! I roomed with him and had to join in with all the press ups, dips and sit ups!
4. Maurice Colclough – A huge man who spoke with a posh English accent – but also hard and physical and would at least smile as he gave you a slap!
5. Nigel Redman – He has the highest pain thresh hold of anyone I know. As a result, he is suffering the consequences in later life for the commitment he showed as a player for England and Bath.
6. ‘Iron’ Mike Teague – Another hard man who was outstanding for Gloucester when they were one of the top teams in England. A real character off the pitch who likes his cider!
7. Roger Spurrell – The best player never to represent England. He did not fit into their type of player because he was too ‘rough’! As captain, he was a driving force behind Bath becoming the best team in England.
8. Zinzan Brooke – Not an aggressive player like my other forwards, but he had immense skill and could do everything they did and also match most three-quarters.
9. David Bishop – Physically intimidating both for the opposition and his own forwards. He played like a ninth forward and could do everything they could do!
10. Stuart Barnes – Many evenings have been spent delving into his wine cellar! No fly-half understood the game better and he had terrific acceleration over 30m.
11. Philippe Saint-Andre – An intelligent winger who knows the game inside out. When I took my first coaching job at Gloucester in 1995, he was the first overseas player I recruited.
12. Philippe Sella – An outstanding centre and a real gent. I admired him for his strength and power but did not like him much when he intercepted my pass at Twickenham in 1987 and France scored the try to win!
13. Jeremy Guscott – Would remain quiet for 79 minutes and then produce a piece of magic to win a game. He was fast and had a terrific outside swerve. He was my next door neighbour in Bath and built a large conservatory which blocked out my light!
14. John Kirwan – The first of the big physical wingers. I first saw him on a tour to NZ in 1985 and he broke the mould of wing play – you did not want to get in his way!
15. Serge Blanco – The best counter attacker I’ve seen. We were warned in 1991 when we won the Grand Slam not to turn our back on him – we did and he started a counter attack from behind his own posts for one of HQ’s finest tries.