Jonny Hill used to skip lessons to go horse racing but insists he has backed a winner by hooking up with his new boss at Sale, Alex Sanderson.
Lock Hill, set to line up for England against Argentina at Twickenham today, resumed his international career down under against Australia after missing the Six Nations with a foot injury.
He made the move to Manchester after that trip, is still paying the Curry brothers rent in Altrincham, and is hoping to come out on the other side like a horse he used to part own, Cottonvale.
Cottonvale finally won at Fakenham in 2019, with Hill missing the race on a post-season day out with Exeter Chiefs, but he made it to the win- ners’ enclosure against the Wallabies. “We never backed it but it finished second loads of times. We were on a team social when it won and someone said Cottonvale had won and we had forgotten it was running,” said Hill.
“I do enjoy my racing but I haven’t been for a while. I am craving it actually. I went to Cheltenham last year because I was injured and lost a few quid. I am from Ludlow and there is a racetrack there. I used to bunk off school and walk up through the fields and go to the races with my mates in the afternoons. It was quite rogue really. My dad rode horses when I was growing up, he used to go hunting, and I rode a little bit but I was soon too gangly for it.”
The 6ft 7in lock then expanded on his move to Sale: “I got up there in August and it has been really refreshing. It was something I looked forward to for a while because I had agreed the transfer in December last year. I was injured January to June so I felt fairly fresh. There is talk about them not falling in love with themselves and they certainly don’t do that – they roll their sleeves up every week.
“Alex is very open and very honest and he has a different way of looking at things. He enjoys hearing players’ opinions.
When I first went in, me and George Ford, he was sitting down with us each week. He is really conscious of the improvement of the club. He is laid-back but has got a really good balance of being laid-back and being a businessman. I couldn’t imagine doing that job because he has got to be nice to people but he has got to tell them they are being sacked or being dropped.”
Hill was the panto villain on the summer tour to Australia with his scuffles with Wallaby lock Darcy Swain causing controversy in the press down under.
But the 28-year-old insists England fans will see a different Hill today from the one who was portrayed as wind-up merchant-in-chief by the Australians.
He added: “I didn’t go into the series with that kind of plan. I was just competing in the match and maybe I did a couple of things I probably shouldn’t have done and I won’t do again.
“I was just really relieved to back fit and playing. I had been sat in the stands since January, missed out on the Six Nations, which probably didn’t go to plan for us. I sat from afar watching that and I couldn’t add to the group so for us to go and win in Australia was really nice.”
