'On the lash' pictures and texts have made Jonny Hill a hit at Sale
Sale have hailed the immediate impact that new signing Jonny Hill has made in his short time so far at the Manchester-based Gallagher Premiership club. Having been away on tour in Australia, it was mid-August when the England international lock first checked in with his new team, joining them for their week-long pre-season in Ireland.
Having since completed his mandatory rest period following his England exploits versus the Wallabies, Hill made his Sale debut in the September 17 win at Bath and he followed that with another 80-minute appearance last Saturday versus his old club Exeter.
With that, he headed off to London to partake in this week’s three-day England training camp but he still had Sale business on his mind travelling down, reviewing lineout clips from their game against the Chiefs and making recommendations ahead of this Saturday’s trip to Leicester.
It was last May when Sale director of rugby Alex Sanderson revealed to RugbyPass that he was already building a rapport with Hill who at the time was still at Exeter trying to regain his fitness following a lengthy layoff since the start of the year.
“I get the odd text on Saturday night at two o’clock in the morning, I seriously do which is nice,” revealed Sanderson five months ago about the second row who decided last December that he would swap Exeter for Sale for the 2022/23 club campaign. “There is a degree of a psychological safety net already where he can text me pissed. That is perhaps the best way to gauge someone’s excitement. I know he is buzzing about coming up.”
Those late-night texts haven’t stopped now that Hill has arrived in Manchester, the 28-year-old quickly impressing the Sale DoR with his willingness to embrace the organisation of the lineout and to swiftly blend in with the squad. Asked how Hill had fitted in since his arrival, Sanderson said: “I’m off to watch Morrissey later so like Hand in Glove I would say. I couldn’t believe how quickly he assimilated himself with the team.
“He has got a good mate in Tom Curry, a really good mate, but he did all the work behind the scenes in terms of the lineout calling and not once did he interject in a meeting, he just sat there and watched and observed. He is quite quiet-natured in his approach and in his ability to influence. He is not a shouter. He is very composed and calm and that in itself lends itself to him being accepted because he has not come in talking about the world according to Jonny Hill.
“He has come in the back door and as such, they have really accepted him. And then there is his talent. They have all got respect for him for how hard he works and how athletic he is. He is well and truly part of the furniture, he is part of the package and those two lads [Hill and Tom O’Flaherty, another summer signing from Exeter] are two of the best socialites I have happened to meet in the game.
“Like even before they signed they were sending me pictures and texts of them out on the lash which they do now just to piss me off. So every time they go out they send me texts at two in the morning. That in itself helps to break down barriers. There is a psychological safety there with me, so I am sure he has got that with the lads.”
Regarding the lineout calling at Sale, is this a new responsibility for Hill or had he been doing it elsewhere before he checked in two months ago? “Yes, he was getting into it as Exeter, he was doing it in England and he is our chief caller although it is a group thing, it is never really one person.
“Lood (de Jager, who exited in the summer) used to do it like that, he wanted the reins and wanted to be the man and that is fine but my own understanding is you should have a little syndicate really, four or five and there could be young lads in that who talk on a Sunday, look over the clips, send emails, meet on Monday morning and then you finalise that lineout by 10am.
“Jonny facilitates that going into each and every week as he was this week on his way down to England. He was watching clips in Tom Curry’s car and sending comments through.”
Comments on RugbyPass
The Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
3 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
3 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
3 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to comments