Nathan Hines (born 29 November 1976) is an Australian-born former

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

and

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

footballer. He played at international level for

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, winning 77 caps, and at club level for

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

Perpignan Perpignan (, , ; ; ) is the prefectures in France, prefecture of the Pyrénées-Orientales departments of France, department in Southern France, in the heart of the plain of Roussillon, at the foot of the Pyrenees a few kilometres from the Me ...

, and

Clermont Auvergne Association Sportive Montferrandaise Clermont Auvergne () is a French professional rugby union club from Clermont-Ferrand in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes that currently competes in Top 14, the top level of the French league system. Clermont are two t ...

among others. He also played rugby league.

Early life

Hines was born in

Wagga Wagga Wagga Wagga (; informally called Wagga) is a major regional city in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. Straddling the Murrumbidgee River, with an urban population of more than 57,003 as of 2021, it is an important agricultural, m ...

, NSW. He attended Berkeley Vale Community High School from 1989 to 1994 and was a regular feature in the school's first XIII rugby league team. He played his club football for the Berkeley Vale Panthers Junior Rugby League Club and was part of the club's first ever Premiership winning side (U/15s – defeated Woy Woy in 1991) playing alongside future

NRL The National Rugby League (also known as the NRL Telstra Premiership for sponsorship reasons) is a professional rugby league competition in Oceania which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria (state), Victoria, the Austral ...

player Paul Stringer. Hines attended Berkeley Vale Community High School, from 1989 to 1994 with Stringer where they played in the first XIII together. This is the same school that produced Wallaby star Adam Ashley-Cooper and Olympic marathon runner and City to Surf winner Martin Dent. Hines was also part of the Premiership winning Ourimbah Razorbacks U/19s Rugby Union side, the same club where Ashley-Cooper also played.

Club career

Hines won league and cup titles with

Gala RFC Gala Rugby Football Club is a rugby union team based in Galashiels in the Scottish Borders. Founded in 1875, it plays its home games at Netherdale. The team currently competes in Scottish National League Division One, the second tier of Scottish c ...

, before signing for

. He moved from Edinburgh to

in the 2005 off-season. At the end of the

2008–09 Top 14 season The 2008–09 Top 14 Competition was a French domestic rugby union club competition operated by the Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR). It ran from late August 2008 through the final at Stade de France on June 6, 2009, in which Perpignan lifted the ...

, Hines chose to tour South Africa with the

British & Irish Lions The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England national rugby union team, England, Ireland national rugby union team, Ireland, Scotland national rugby union team, Scotland, and ...

rather than take part in the Top 14 play-offs with Perpignan. On 4 July 2009, it was reported in the French media that Hines would be joining

2008–09 Heineken Cup The 2008–09 Heineken Cup was the fourteenth edition of the Heineken Cup, the annual rugby union European club competition for clubs from the top six nations in European rugby. It started in October 2008 and ended on 23 May 2009 at Murrayfield St ...

winners

Leinster Leinster ( ; or ) is one of the four provinces of Ireland, in the southeast of Ireland. The modern province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige, which existed during Gaelic Ireland. Following the 12th-century ...

for the 2009–10 season. On the Lions tour, Hines played in five tour matches, but was not selected for any of the Tests against

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. Hines became a regular starter and a crowd favourite for

, he won the

2010–11 Heineken Cup The 2010–11 Heineken Cup was the 16th season of the Heineken Cup, the annual rugby union European club competition for clubs from the top six nations in European rugby. It started with three matches on 8 October 2010 and ended on 21 May 2011 w ...

with the Irish province. Hines signed for

in 2011. On 20 January 2014, Hines signed for

Sale Sharks Sale Sharks are a professional rugby union club from Greater Manchester, England, United Kingdom. Its team play in Premiership Rugby, and have been in England's top division of rugby union continuously since 1995. Originally founded in 1861 as ...

to compete in the English

Aviva Premiership Premiership Rugby, officially known as Gallagher Premiership Rugby, or the Gallagher Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is an English professional rugby union competition, consisting of 10 clubs, and is the top division of the English rugby u ...

on a two-year contract from the 2014–15 season.

International career

In 2000, Hines made his Test debut for Scotland in

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

but two serious injuries claimed nearly 18 months of his career. He qualified to play for Scotland through his grandfather George Nairne who was from Govan. He became the first Scotland player to be sent off in a Test match when he was dismissed against the

USA Eagles The United States men's national rugby union team, nicknamed the Eagles, represents the United States in men's international rugby union competitions. USA Rugby is the national governing body for the sport of rugby union in the United States, a ...

in 2002 for punching replacement hooker/flanker Dan Anderson. He was a big part of the Scotland squad for the

2003 Rugby World Cup The 2003 Rugby World Cup was the fifth Rugby World Cup and was won by England national rugby union team, England. Originally planned to be co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand, all games were shifted to Australia following a contractual dispu ...

, which was held in his country of birth. In the

2005 Six Nations Championship The 2005 Six Nations Championship was the sixth Six Nations Championship played since the competition expanded in 2000 to include Italy national rugby union team, Italy. Including the Home Nations and Five Nations Championships, this was the 111th ...

game against

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

Murrayfield Murrayfield is an area to the west of Edinburgh city centre in Scotland. It is to the east of Corstorphine and north of Balgreen, Saughtonhall and Roseburn. The A8 road (Scotland), A8 road runs east–west through the south of the area. Murra ...

on 13 March, Hines came on in the second half and helped restore some pride, but his try was disallowed for lack of grounding. He was alleged to be discontented with the Scotland coaches ( Matt Williams and Willie Anderson) and declared his retirement from international rugby. However, with the firing of the previous coaching regime and the appointment of his previous club coach,

Frank Hadden Frank Hadden (born 14 June 1954) is a Scottish rugby union coach. He is a former head coach of Scotland and Edinburgh Rugby. Hadden replaced Matt Williams and was appointed on 15 September 2005. Hadden coached the Merchiston Castle School 1st ...

, as Scotland coach, Hines returned to the squad. He made his reappearance as a substitute in the 2006 Six Nations win over

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

at Murrayfield. Hines toured South Africa with the

in 2009 and featured heavily in the midweek matches but did not participate in the Tests. On 9 November 2011 Hines announced his retirement from international rugby with immediate effect. This meant he started and ended his Scotland career at

Eden Park Eden Park is a sports venue in Auckland, New Zealand. It is located three kilometres southwest of the Auckland CBD, on the boundary between the suburbs of Mount Eden and Kingsland. The main stadium has a nominal capacity of 50,000, and is s ...

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

. Hines won a total of 77 caps and scored two tries (10 points).

Coaching career

On 6 May 2015, Hines joined the

coaching staff as a Resource Coach, reuniting with his former coach

Vern Cotter Vernon Anthony Cotter (born 27 January 1962) is a New Zealand rugby union coach and former player. He currently coaches the Blues (Super Rugby), Blues in Super Rugby. He started his coaching career at Bay of Plenty including winning the Ranfur ...

Early life

Club career

International career

Coaching career

References

External links