Maro faces uphill battle with Jonny
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EXETER hotshot Jonny Hill is looking to send new England team- mate Maro Itoje into reverse tomorrow as his champion Chiefs take on Saracens at Twickenham with the mantra: the bigger they are the harder they fall.
The Saracens pack, replete with big names and big men such as Itoje, swept Wasps aside in the semi- fi nal last Saturday but no- one does that to Exeter.
Saracens may have the stars in tomorrow’s Premiership fi nal but the Devonians are quietly confi dent of making it fi ve wins in a row in all competitions against them.
“We target their strengths,” said Hill. “We don’t change too much but there’s a sense of us upping our game when we play them.
“Against the big sides like Sarries you have to be that three per cent more into the game. There’s a big kicking battle but the gainline is everything against these guys. You have to meet them there and get them back over it. That’s the challenge.
“I’m looking forward to a one- on- one battle with Maro Itoje.
“I’ll give him the respect he deserves by going full out against him.”
Hill, an England Under- 20s teammate of Itoje during his Gloucester days, has fl owered this season at Sandy Park and earned a call- up REPORTS to the senior squad for next month’s tour to South Africa.
The 6ft 7in second row took Jones’s description of him – “not too many bells and whistles” – as a compliment. “I’m happy with that,” he said. Hailing from Ludlow, Hill’s other sporting passion is horse racing.
“I used to bunk off school to go to the races,” he said. “I am quite friendly with a few jockeys – Nick Scholfi eld and Tom Scudamore live not too far away from here and have come to watch a few games. There is a crossover. They are in a bit of a team environment themselves.” He also likes his cricket and once played in a Twenty20 match with Chris Gayle. “I opened the batting with Andy Caddick that day and Chris came in No 9 with about three overs to go and got 50 not out,” he said. “There were some huge sixes. He hit one six, someone ran on to the pitch with a pint which he downed, and then he hit another six next ball. He didn’t bother fi elding.” Hill was picked up by Rob Baxter three years ago when his Gloucester career stalled because of a fractured ankle. It has proven a typically astute piece of recruitment from the Exeter director of rugby. “I was injured at Gloucester for 14 months but Rob took a punt on me and saying yes to that was the best thing I ever did,” said Hill. “It’s a squad of different characters but we all push in the same direction and it works a treat. Last year Ben White from Canberra was here. He was an absolute Aussie chav. Then you have someone like James Short, who has been to one of the poshest schools in England. “There’s a great atmosphere and there’s always little things going on.” The cookie club and sandwich club meet regularly. Hill, who was at St James Park last week to see Exeter City reach Monday’s League Two promotion play- off fi nal at Wembley, runs the club’s fantasy football league. The extra- curricular activities all help to ensure Chiefs are much more than the sum of their parts. Those who expected them to be one- hit wonders after last season’s fairy- tale fi nal triumph in extra- time against Wasps have been wide of the mark. “We’ve enjoyed being the champions. You need to be on your mettle every week because teams are going to raise their game to try to beat us but we’ve weathered a few storms,” said Hill. “We haven’t had the perfect picture all season but I’d like to think we’re peaking at the right time. As are Saracens. First against second is a fair fi nal.” TEENAGE star Cam Redpath is set to miss England’s tour to South Africa with a knee injury.