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The father of a 30-year-old man who died while playing rugby for the Scottish Parliament team in Dublin at the weekend has described his pain as “unbearable”.
Rodger Hill said his family was "broken" after the sudden death of David Hill (30) on Saturday during a game against an Oireachtas XV in Donnybrook.
“I can’t believe I’m writing this. My amazing son David passed away today playing rugby in Dublin for the Scottish Parliament,” he wrote on Twitter. “He was the best and the pain is unbearable. We are broken.”
David Hill, who was described as "rugby daft", worked as the head of office for Scottish Conservative MSP and Holyrood justice spokesman Jamie Greene.
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While a postmortem is expected to establish the cause of death, it is understood that Mr Hill may have suffered a head injury and heart complications.
Mr Greene described him as a “friend, colleague and confidant for so many in the Scottish Parliament over the years”.
He said Mr Hill “loved his politics, but he loved his rugby more”.
“The whole parliament, my party and the whole rugby community is deeply saddened by this awful news today, and our condolences lie entirely with his family, friends and colleagues.”
Sturgeon tribute
Scotland's first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, responded to the news on Twitter: "This is so terribly sad. My deepest condolences to David's family, friends and colleagues." She said Mr Hill's teammates were "all deeply shocked and heartbroken".
Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross said: “Our whole party is shocked and saddened by David’s tragic passing. He was a kind, generous, well-liked and highly respected part of our team.
In a statement, Scottish Rugby said: “We are shocked and saddened by David’s passing today ... The condolences of everyone at Scottish Rugby go out to his family and friends at this time.”
Dublin Rathdown TD Neale Richmond said: "Utterly heartbroken, one of the nicest men lost in the most tragic of circumstances. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis."