Hill shows versatilty with star role at lock
Ted Hill was named man of the match in Bath’s 34-14 win over Exeter Chiefs on Saturday despite playing out of position in the second row.
The flanker caught the eye with a series of athletic runs and chases as he led the forwards to success against a muscular Exeter pack at the Rec. While Bath head of rugby Johann van Graan explained Hill was chosen to start at lock partly out of necessity, with the club using 50 players over the weekend with a young squad playing away at Edinburgh the night before, going down 31-5, he said his outstanding display has opened his eyes to the possibility of playing him there more in the future.
Speaking to our sister website Somersetlive, van Graan said: “I felt he was one of our best players. We weren’t going to take a risk with GJ van Velze, he has a bit of a calf issue but it is nothing serious. Josh Mcnally is working his way back, he was in full training this week. I said I was going to try a few different things in this game and I thought that worked really well.”
Despite the success of the experiment, van Graan said: “He is our starting six, but it is good for me to know that he can play there at this level and he is very open to it. His place is cemented in the number six jersey, obviously, we will rotate heavily throughout the season, but I thought he was very good.”
Competition in Bath’s back-row is fierce heading into Saturday’s Gallagher Premiership opener against Newcastle Falcons, even with openside flanker Sam Underhill getting called up by England as an injury replacement for Jack Willis. Miles Reid captained the side on Saturday from blindside, Chris Cloete went well at openside before coming off at half time as a precaution after feeling some tightness, and former Wasps star Alfie Barbeary
made his Bath debut at the Recr at number eight.
Reviewing Barbeary’s display, van Graan said: “You can’t ask for more. There was no expectation except for him to get the ball in his hands. I thought he looked pretty well and I kept him on a bit longer than anticipated.
“Chris Cloete was tight at halftime, that is why I brought him off for Sam Underhill, that meant Alfie played a bit longer. I thought he was very good. I thought his [Barbeary] combination with Jaco Coetzee off the bench was very good. He carried really well. I am very happy for Alfie, he has gone through a lot. We wanted to play him a lot more last season but that didn’t work out. He is going to be a key player for us.”