Richard Hill, touted as a possible future England coach, has signed a three-year extension to his contract as Bristol coach, which will now continue until the end of the 2009-10 season.

The club's chief executive David White praised Hill's ability to recruit and organise players, adding: "This shows a 100% commitment by Richard to the future of Bristol Rugby."

The former England scrum-half Hill said: "When I was given the opportunity to head up the excellent coaching team three years ago, we had a huge challenge to take Bristol out of the first division and into the Premiership where we had hoped to re-establish this famous club as one of the major forces in English rugby."