Hill aiming to sign off with victory

David Hill gives Southland the run-around. Next week he's leaving for the UK to play for Bristol. Sandra Mu / Getty Images

As send-offs go, David Hill's is poised to take some beating. The Waikato second five-eighths heads for a new life at Bristol on Thursday and, if the stars are in red, yellow and black alignment, he'll leave with an Air New Zealand Cup title to savour.

It's been a curious year for 28-year-old Hill. A viral infection kept him out for the early part of Super 14, a debilitating condition which hinted at an unpromising year. As it panned out, it's been pretty good, and with the prospect of a cherry on top tomorrow night.

"Sometimes the rugby gods smile on different people, and they weren't smiling on me for a while," he said. "Towards the end of the Super 14, I was just happy to get on the park, then go away with the Maori [who won the Churchill Cup in Canada]," Hill said.

"Then came the ABs [a brief debut against Ireland], then this season's been going pretty well. Win, lose or draw it'll still be a special year, but if we win that'll cap it off."

Now it's time to pack his suitcases after six years at Waikato.

"Can't wait," he said. He will link up with Otago back Neil Brew and his Waikato teammate, lock Sean Hohneck, at the club leading the English premiership.

"If I wasn't a rugby player, I'd probably have done a couple of OEs by now. I'm pretty keen to do that, to experience something else."

He leaves Waikato with a clutch of younger players promising plenty for the next few years. The grim memory of last year, when injury struck hard and the players were coming to terms with a new defensive strategy, has faded. Five successive games were lost. This year has produced just one loss and a draw in 11 games.

"Last year was bad. We ended up with [midfielders] Dwayne Sweeney and Richard Kahui on the wings, just because we didn't have enough players.

"It was a horrible experience to go through, but in the end it did us well for this year. The young guys have learnt a lot and stepped up."

Waikato will miss Hill's quality goalkicking and his rugby wisdom. But it's a good time to move on with the next chapter in his life. "It couldn't have been scripted better."