Hamilton was born in Dumfries and is a former pupil of Stranraer Academy. He is 6 feet 8 inches tall and weighs 15 stones 8 pounds. He was previously with West of Scotland before moving to Newcastle to study where he played for Newcastle Falcons playing 50 games for the club between 1999 and 2005. He was a replacement as they won the 2004 Anglo-Welsh Cup final.[1]
In May 2011 it was announced that Hamilton was leaving Edinburgh had agreed to join French Second Division club Tarbes Pyrénées Rugby. He left the club along with Scott Newlands and Mark Robertson.
In June 2018 Hamilton took up the position of Player/Coach with Durham/Northumberland Division 2 side Whitley Bay Rockcliff RFC,[3] helping the team secure promotion into Durham/Northumberland Division 1 for the first time in over 15 years and also the league record of the most points scored in a season.
In December 2019 Hamilton received the first red card of his career, in a hard fought game between Whitley Bay Rockcliff and Newcastle Medicals RFC, where a total of nine cards were given including seven yellow cards and two red.
International
He represented Scotland U21 in the 2000 SANZAR tournament, starting against Tonga and coming on as a replacement against South Africa and Argentina. He also represented Scottish Students, in particular starting in their game against French Students at Inverleith in March 2002. He has made 17 appearances for Scotland A including appearances in February 2010.
He was awarded his first Scotland cap on 19 June 2004 in Sydney, coming on as a replacement in the second Test against Australia. He gained 4 further caps in the five months from June to November 2005 when he started against each of Romania, Argentina, Samoa and New Zealand. He was on Scotland’s 2008 tour to Argentina but did not figure in the match squad for either Test match.
