Cory Hill apologises for 2021 incident that saw woman’s home damaged

Cory Hill has apologised for an incident in 2021 after being picked to captain Wales this week, with Wales coach Warren Gatland saying he has had an ‘honest conversation’ with the second-row before giving him the honour.

Hill’s selection as captain for Friday’s game against the Queensland Reds is a contentious one, given he was named as among a group of men who damaged a woman’s house in May 2021. This will be the first time he has started for Wales, let alone captained them, since then – having featured off the bench against Australia in both Tests.

Hill was never charged by police for the incident, but issued an apology through a representative. However, this is the first time he has spoken publicly about it – with the 32-year-old showing remorse for the incident, which you can read about here, as he prepares to lead his country once again.

“That incident happened three years ago,” said Hill at a press conference in Brisbane. “Do I regret it? Yes, of course I do.

“I made a mistake and I am sorry. But speaking about the game on Friday, I’m chuffed to be captain.

“I’ve done it before. Obviously I thank Warren for having the trust in me. It’s about me coming back into the camp and proving my worth within the group.

“It was my thing to come in and try to add to the group, which I’d like to think I have with my experience. It’s a massive honour for me to lead the team again.

“I probably never thought I would get that to captain Wales again. I’d like to thank Warren for having trust in me.”

At the time of the incident, the woman said she feared for hers and her children’s safety, saying: “What I could hear was glass smashing against the upstairs windows and this most horrific banging sound at the front door.

“The floor was shaking under my feet, I could feel the vibrations.

“It sounded to me, at the time, as if there was a sledge-hammer being taken to my front door. At the same time there was the sound of broken glass coming from the top floor windows, so it was really disorientating.”

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Gatland was also at the press conference, held after he named a much-changed team for Friday’s clash at Suncorp Stadium. Naturally, the questions revolved largely around his choice of captain.

And when explaining why he had chosen Hill as captain, he referred to a ‘heart-to-heart’ between the two where Hill admitted he regretted what happened. You can read the full Gatland Q&A here.

Gatland had previously said that Wales had “moved past” the incident. However, both admitted they could understand the negative reaction to the appointment, with Hill saying: “There’s always going to be negative reaction to mistakes someone has made in the past.

“Like Warren said, I’ve been honest and open here. The issue was dealt with by the club and authorities three years ago. It was a mistake. I hold my hand up and I am sorry for what happened.

“But like Gats said, we’ve had a good discussion around it. He’s put trust in me to come back into the team and add a little bit of experience to the young group.

“I feel like I’m doing that. Look, I’ve loved every minute being back here. I’ve loved my time in Japan and had some great experience there.

“I’m probably bringing some experiences from there back here. It’s just getting that bit between the teeth again. The chance to play Test rugby on the weekend is phenomenal for me over the last two weeks.

“I’m really excited we’re playing a Super Rugby team on the weekend and we’ve got some boys coming in wearing the jersey for the first time. The group is really excited about Friday night.”

The other side to the appointment, beyond the off-field stuff, is the level at which Hill is playing his club rugby. His side, Secom Rugguts, play in the fourth tier of Japanese rugby.

Some, like former Wales second-row Ian Gough, have been critical of someone playing at that level being called into a Wales squad, with the ex-Ospreys and Dragons lock telling BBC Radio Wales that he didn’t agree with “picking someone who has been playing park rugby in Japan.

Hill, when reflecting on his experiences in Japan, referred to Gough’s comments as he defended the level of rugby he’s been playing at – once again reinforcing that the decision to Secom, a move that saw him pull out of Wales’ World Cup training squad last year, was for family reasons.

“The first two years in Japan, I was playing at the Canon Eagles with a couple of world champions there, seeing how different people do things in another part of the world,” said Hill. “I was playing with some Super Rugby players too.

“So it was massive learnings for me as a player, going out there. The intensity is really high. There’s a lot of running and you probably get a lot more touches of the ball because the intensity is high.

“So I enjoyed that. I’ve moved on to Secom. It’s been said I’ve played a bit of park rugby over the last year. It’s always nice from an ex-team-mate.

“Me and Goughie are quite friendly and he messaged me afterwards which was nice. I don’t think it was a dig at me as such, maybe it was more of a dig at him (Gatland). I don’t know.

“I’ve been training since I’ve been home. The decision to go and play in division four in Japan was a family decision. My wife was pregnant.

“It was a decision to guarantee I would be present at the birth of our first. It was a big decision, but ultimately I see family first. It enabled me to have a period off with our new-born baby and my wife, which someone can never take away.

“That was great. I was lucky to be training over at the Vale. I usually train at Robin’s (Sowden-Taylor) gym in Cardiff, but he was doing rehab with Leon Brown at the Vale.

“So since January, I’ve been over there training with those guys. We had a nice little tight clique. I’ve been keeping fit and I love training. Having that rest probably did my body well, too.”

Gatland said he had few issues with Hill’s fitness when selecting him, saying: “I saw Cory training at the Vale. He’s always kept himself fit. He’s fitted in pretty seamlessly and it’s been great having that experience come into the squad.”

He added: “He’s been brilliant in the group, having that leadership in terms of having a voice and experience.

“He’s been good for this young group of players, in terms of that role that he’s taken on at training sessions and team meetings, making sure he speaks. Someone with that sort of experience, people take notice of what he says.”

Gatland has previously spoken of Hill as being a player who could make it through to the 2027 World Cup, with this captaincy role clearly a statement of how important the Wales coach believes he is to the current squad.

However, Hill will be spending at least another year in Japan, having signed for another year with Secom – raising the question of how things such as availability for campaigns will work moving forward.

“We’ll have to have those discussions going forward, but I’ll be playing there next year, in the top league as we got promoted. I’ll have another year out there ahead of me, but it’s up to us to have discussions moving forward.”