Ben Hilton: Ex-Cornwall skipper wants County Championship legacy

Ben Hilton has played for Cornwall in two Bill Beaumont Cup finals and in the 2008 County Championship Shield final

Veteran Cornwall lock Ben Hilton says he wants the Duchy to build a legacy in the County Championship.

Hilton captained the county to two final appearances in 2013 and 2014 and was part of the side that won the title at Twickenham in 2015.

"It's been wonderful to watch where it is now from where it was before.

"I hope it carries on next year and the year after, I want us to be so difficult to beat that people dread playing us," he told BBC Cornwall.

Trelawny's Army host winless Surrey at Camborne on Saturday knowing a win will guarantee a fourth successive trip to Twickenham to play for the Bill Beaumont Cup.

Having beaten both Gloucestershire and Hertfordshire, Cornwall could afford to lose their final game and still progress provided they get a bonus point and the score in the other match remains low.

"A long time ago there might have been times when you were ringing around trying to get a few guys interested, that doesn't need to be done any more, the boys are very keen," added Hilton.

"We said we wanted to build something special and since then the standards have gone up.

"The backroom staff have bought into it, the committee have bought into it, the coaches have come on board and bought into it and now obviously the players are buying into it as well, so it's been a long process."