HAMILTON SAVOURS A PERFECT FINALE
Ideal setting as Hamilton calls it a day
As an ex-scotland international, there was no better place for Jim Hamilton to announce his forthcoming retirement than after his club’s European Champions Cup win at his beloved Murrayfield.
‘Would I have done it if we had lost to Clermont?’ said the saracens second row in the aftermath of saturday’s victory. ‘Maybe not, as I would probably have gone on one more year with saracens. But it feels right to do it now, especially after winning here at Murrayfield.
‘I got my picture taken with the trophy in the No 5 booth in the dressing room. I spent nine years playing in that position for scotland and getting changed in that booth at Murrayfield, so it felt right to end it here.
‘Through my career, though, despite the European wins with saracens, to say I played for scotland is probably my biggest achievement. That and having my children.
‘I have been honoured to play for so long but I probably won’t realise what I have achieved until I sit back in a quiet room on my own smoking a cigar and drinking whisky.’
He may have only been on the park for around a minute at the end of the pulsating 28-17 win over Clermont but that didn’t detract from his sense of achievement.
Along with his fellow scot Duncan Taylor, who came on for captain Brad Barritt with 25 minutes left, he felt as much part of the victory as fly-half Owen Farrell who put over two conversions and three penalties, or saracens try scorers Chris Ashton, George Kruis and Andy Goode.
‘In five years, nobody will remember if I was on for a minute or an hour,’ said Hamilton. ‘I played my part in our European run.
‘I played against Glasgow in the quarters in Europe and started all the games before that bar one and also played against Munster in the semi, so I felt part of it. I have played in over 20 games for sarries this season, so I deserved to be on the pitch at the end.
‘I was certainly good enough to be on the pitch, so it is only right that the coach put me on and, obviously, the game was won by then, which was fine by me.
‘I always knew my place in the team was going to be on the bench as Maro Itoje and George Kruis are going away with the Lions and they were always going to start in the European final but to get on at the end was a fantastic feeling.’
Hamilton will go into the history books as the most successful scottish player of the pro era in terms of picking up silverware at club level.
His impressive tally includes back-to-back European Champions Cup titles with saracens and three English Premiership titles — one with Leicester Tigers and two with saracens. He also has won two LV Cups but joked ‘those don’t count’.
And he could finish his career with another league title this season as his club take on Exeter Chiefs in the Aviva Premiership semi-final play-off next weekend.
It is a remarkable haul of trophies for the 34-year-old, who admits he was never the most talented and only sheer hard work kept him at the top for 14 years in a career that saw him play for Leicester Tigers, Edinburgh, Gloucester, Montpellier and saracens.
He was also honoured this week by being named saracens Fans’ Player of the Year, which when you consider some of the world stars they have, shows how great a final season he has had.
‘I was honoured to get that award and be recognised for my hard work,’ said Hamilton. ‘I am not a flash player, I am not that powerful or not that athletic but I get stuck in.’
Fittingly for Hamilton, long-time team-mate Kelly Brown, who wasn’t part of saracens’ European Champions Cup squad, was at Murrayfield to share the moment.
‘Kelly and I have always been close but in the last few years we have become even closer,’ he said. He got 64 caps, I got 63, which he gives me stick for. He has been a great friend and mentor.
‘We will be friends till it all ends and it was an honour to be part of this squad with him and, like me, he will be retiring, so we will leave at the same time.’