Richard Hill targeting victory over Munster to set up Heineken Cup finale

Feeling the strain: World Cup winner Richard Hill is determined to help Saracens beat Munster on Sunday to reach the Heineken Cup Final, which would be a fitting end to his career

Chris Jones|Rugby Correspondent

13 April 2012

Richard Hill is preparing for the biggest game of his illustrious Saracens career determined to prove the doubters wrong by beating mighty Munster in Sunday's Heineken Cup semi-final.

The World Cup-winning flanker is retiring at the end of the season and will drag his body onto the Coventry pitch desperate to take his club into their first European final.

The cumulative effect of three knee reconstruction operations means Hill has been rested since his man-of-the-match display in the shock quarter-final win over Ospreys. Without him, his side have suffered heavy defeats against Gloucester and London Wasps.

Saracens, therefore, need another heroic performance from one of the great back-row forwards if they are to upset the odds.

Hill said: "No one is going to give us a chance of winning and Munster have a fantastic Cup pedigree and tremendous belief in their squad. But nothing is impossible.

"This will be the biggest game I have ever played for the club because a back operation meant I missed the 1998 English Cup Final win at Twickenham. I had been at Sarries for five years when that match came along and at that time I was probably the longest-serving player in the squad.

"Now I have been around for 15 years and only Kris Chesney and Kevin Sorrell are close to that length of service. While missing that final was a huge blow, the decision we took to sort out my back problem was important and enabled me to keep playing and take part in the 2003 World Cup Final."

Despite his wealth of experience and status in the game, Hill admits he will feel the tension going into the Munster match.

"The nerves will increase as the week goes along and we go into this game as firm underdogs but that was also the case against the Ospreys and look what happened," he said. "It is going to take another big one-off performance from us because Munster are a quality team with a proud record in the Cup.

"I am not allowing myself to think about what a great finish it would be to be able to wear the Sarries jersey in a Heineken Cup Final. I can't look any further than Munster."

If Sarries win, then Hill will bring the curtain down on his career at the Millennium Stadium on 25 May - the day after his birthday - in the final against either London Irish or Toulouse. Not even a Cup triumph would change his mind about quitting and he said: "Rugby has been a huge part of my life. The game has been a great release for me and I will miss playing but I am comfortable with my decision.

"People see me limping on the leg and, to a great extent, it's a result of the range of movement I currently have in the leg after all the operations.

"There appears to be a strong belief among my team-mates that I have a really strong desire to keep on doing some form of exercise but I have yet to be convinced. I think seeing will be believing. The members of the World Cup-winning squad seem to be finding new careers all over the place.

"You only have to turn on Saturday night television to confirm that with Matt Dawson and Kyran Bracken appearing in cookery, ballroom dancing and ice dancing competitions.

"Will I try the ice dancing? Managing to just stand on one leg is enough at the moment."

MORE ABOUT

Guinness Premiership

Richard Hill targeting victory over Munster to set up Heineken Cup finale

Read More