Is it a bird or a plane? No, it’s probably “SuperTed”. If Bath win this year’sPremiershipfinal the chances are their rangy, athletic flanker Ted Hill will have played a prominent role. This week his captain, Ben Spencer, called him a “freak” and various seasoned judges have compared him with illustrious former back-rowers ranging from Kieran Read and Jerome Kaino to Pierre Spies and Tom Croft.
During this year’s Six Nations Maro Itoje suggested similarities between the 26-year-old and “Captain America or Superman” and suggested he was “a man carved out of Greek stone”. Bath’s head coach, Johann van Graan, believes likewise. “I think he’s one of the best players in the league and his athletic ability is special. There’s not a lot he can’t do, really.”
So you might have expected this standout performer – even the backs agree he is the quickest member of Bath’s talented squad – to have represented England on multiple occasions since his debut off the bench against Japan in 2019. In fact he has just four caps, all as a replacement and totalling 49 minutes, and has yet to start a Test after six years of national-squad involvement.
Injuries and the intense competition for back-row places have both played their part but Hill’s family – and particularly his mum, Jan – have long since felt their boy deserves more of a chance. As Hill says: “It’s beyond fair to say they think I should have started for England before now. But that’s parents, isn’t it? They’re my biggest supporters and seeing it from their point of view is sometimes difficult. They’re always more emotional about it than I am.”
Hill’s own view, with England due to tour Argentina and the United States next month, is that he is better off focusing on things he can control. “I’ve always been of the mindset that coaches have their opinions. Who they like, who they don’t like. I feel like I do have a different game to a lot of the 6s in the country but I’m in a position where there is more depth than anywhere else. That’s a blessing for England but it can be a curse for an individual.”
Hill could not have done much more to nudge the selectors this year. He even managed to catch the incredibly swift Adam Radwan last month and pulled off another remarkable cover tackle to stop the rampaging Kalaveti Ravouvou in Bath’s semi-final win over Bristol. The startled gasps from the commentary box, though, have been prompting some wry amusement in the Hill family. “It’s something my mum and dad find funny. ‘Have they only just found out that you’re quick?’”
Allied to his defensive work rate and lineout ability, the former Worcester captain also has a a thoughtful side: the son of a police officer and an art teacher, he was a choirboy in Worcester Cathedral and is fascinated by history. Off the field he is not the world’s fastest driver – “My missus always says to me: ‘Why are you in the slow lane, why can’t you speed up a bit?’” – but things are very different on the field. “I’ve definitely got a competitive, stubborn edge to me. I think I should be playing and involved in the England stuff. You’ve got to have that confidence that you’re better than this or that person. But you’ve also got to have the realism to understand that sometimes it happens and sometimes it doesn’t.
“What will be will be. If they pick me they pick me. If they don’t I’m not going to be sitting in the corner crying about it. Luckily I’ve got great people around me. I don’t necessarily have to bank on one person’s opinion to make me happy. I’m in a good spot with that.”
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Perhaps his time will come in the not-too-distant future given the value of versatile players who can operate as a forward or a back. As Van Graan said this week: “I predict somebody will go 8-0, or 4-4, on the bench at some stage.”
For the time being, though, the 6ft 5in Hill is having to settle for burning off his mates in training – “I’ve been racing Alfie Barbeary but he’s been having a 10-metre head start” – before the big showdown withLeicester. “The biggest thing is how quickly we can find some momentum and get that feeling where we look at each other and go: ‘We’re here now, we’re in it.’ When we get on that level of togetherness we feel like we’re tough to beat.”