How do you solve a problem like Ted Hill? Consistently excellent for treble winners Bath, he finds himself caught in the frustrating purgatory of being a permanent next cab off the rank with England.
First capped as a teenager, the greyhound back-row has played only four more Tests in the seven years’ since.
For all his value to Bath – his club captain Ben Spencer labels him a “freak athlete” – Hill cannot seem to break out of the fringe Test player category.
Picked in the England squad for the tour of the Americas in the summer, he could not earn a start even with Tom Curry, Ben Earl and Henry Pollock away with the Lions.
He is an unfortunate victim of circumstances with England bloatedly overstocked in his specialist area. There is a glimmer of light, however, in terms of his international aspirations.
As England’s game has expanded, Steve Borthwick has shown himself to be increasingly minded towards using an adaptable back-row forward as a more mobile second-row option – not from the start of a Test match but off the bench as the game opens up.
As a traditional lineout lock with less pace than a sloth on its lunch break in his playing days, Borthwick is, perhaps, an unlikely blue-sky thinker when it comes to the engine room evolution. Credit where credit is due though, he is looking to maximise England’s resources to the side’s benefit.
There’s a real aspect to both positions that I enjoy so I’m definitely not shut down to either one of them.
At 6ft 5in and 17st 9lbs, Hill – who Sam Underhill last season revealed was the fastest man in the entire Bath squad – has the dimensions for the hybrid role. And if it means he finally gets a proper look-in with England, he is happy to go with the fluid back-five flow.
“I think you see that a lot now. Not just in the English league, all over. In the French league, you will see a second-row who will call the lineout who will almost be a back-row as well. It’s changing a lot. It’s definitely becoming a more common thing that’s for sure,” said Hill.
“There’s a real aspect to both positions that I enjoy so I’m definitely not shut down to either one of them.”
During last season’s Six Nations, Hill came on for Ollie Chessum in the England second row against Scotland before bolstering the back row from the bench against Italy and the USA in Washington in July.
Chandler Cunningham-South – another No.6 – also covered both positions off the bench against Argentina in the summer.
Versatily is a definite selection asset. Perhaps if England had a larger stock of Test-quality locks, Borthwick might not be as drawn to hybrids. But they don’t, so he is.
Hill’s job when the season kicks off is to keep on nudging the England head coach with his performances for all-conquering Bath, so he does not drift out of mind for the autumn Tests when the Lions are back in the frame.
“I think for me, as a player, you don’t want to become stagnant after winning something. You want to keep moving forward and improving in little areas,” he said.
“First and foremost, I want to do as well as I can for Bath and then other stuff will hopefully come with that.”
It’s an amazing thing to see Worcester back… I think there’s always a part of you which stays with that team and stays passionate about the team.
After taking on Glasgow and Munster over the past fortnight, Bath’s pre-season fine-tuning concludes with a visit to Hill’s former club Worcester on Friday.
It will mark the return of professional rugby at Sixways, three years after the Warriors went into liquidation.
Their return is not without controversy, with rugby creditors still waiting for money they are owed from the collapse. The new owners have promised ‘phased’ repayment.
But for Hill, who was born in the city and came through the Worcester academy, the rebirth – which will see the club play in the second-tier Champ – is a thing of joy.
“It’s an amazing thing to see them back, not only for the guys there, but for the city. They’ve missed out on something big in sport in the city for a while now so it’s just great to see them back,” said Hill.
“Whenever you’re part of the team for a long time, I think there’s always a part of you which stays with that team and stays passionate about the team.
“I think there’s always a little bit of you involved, 100 per cent.”
We want to be that team who can back up what we’ve done. It’s going to be difficult because there’s more of a target on our back now, but that’s the plan.
The PREM defence begins for Bath at Harlequins next Friday, 26 September. After Northampton’s experience last season, when the Saints followed up a title with a third-from-bottom finish, Hill knows it will not simply be a case of turning up and expecting the good times to keep rolling on.
“We had an amazing season last season and for us at the moment it’s about the difficulty of resetting and going again,” he said.
“We know that when you look at teams in the past, that can be difficult and it’s not easy to do but we want to be that team who can back up what we’ve done. It’s going to be difficult because there’s a bit more of a target on our back now, but that’s the plan.”
While Northampton were unable to cope with the departures of key pillars like Courtney Lawes, Bath look just as strong this season – even stronger in fact, with the arrivals of Santiago Carreras, Henry Arundell and Chris Harris.
It would be a major surprise if they were not in and amongst the fight for the trophy again.
The bookmakers have them as favourites to emulate Saracens in 2019 as English rugby’s last back-to-back champions.
“Those guys are obviously another step up, but I think that’s what as a club you dream of and as a player you dream of that as well,” added Hill.
“It’s one step at a time but we’ve done one and hopefully we can go on and do a few more.”
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