Bath man’s all time great forward’s try not enough for Borthwick’s England squad
Despite showing some impressive form in recent weeks since moving from Worcester Warriors to Bath, neither Ollie Lawrence nor Ted Hill have made Steve Borthwick’s England squad for the Six Nations.
Given the wealth of talent that the England head coach has at his disposal in the back row, it was always going to be tough to get selected. Billy Vunipola was overlooked as well, and this is also a squad that does not contain the injured Tom Curry.
Then again, Hill did all that he could on Sunday against Toulon in the Challenge Cup at Kingsholm (yes, Kingsholm), scoring one of the all time great tries for a forward. Despite his 6’5″, 112kg frame, Hill sliced through the Toulon defence from his own 22 like prime Brian O’Driscoll. From there he showed some freakish pace and some nifty kicking skills to kick down field. Though he did rely on a bit of good fortune with the fullback fumbling the ball- but fortune favours the brave and any forward that chooses to put boot to ball is brave.
As good as the try was, it was in vain as Bath went on to lose 35-23.
Take a look at the try:
TED HILL 👏
That’s it, that’s the tweet!#ChallengeCupRugby | @BathRugby pic.twitter.com/fUjkBP4LPt
— EPCR Challenge Cup (@ChallengeCup_) January 15, 2023
FULL ENGLAND SQUAD
FORWARDS
Ollie Chessum (Leicester Tigers, 5 caps)
Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers, 95 caps)
Ben Curry (Sale Sharks,1 cap)
Alex Dombrandt (Harlequins, 9 caps)
Ben Earl (Saracens, 13 caps)
Ellis Genge (Bristol Bears, 43 caps)
Jamie George (Saracens, 72 caps)
Joe Heyes (Leicester Tigers, 7 caps)
Jonny Hill (Sale Sharks, 19 caps)
Nick Isiekwe (Saracens, 8 caps)
Maro Itoje (Saracens, 62 caps)
Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints, 96 caps)
Lewis Ludlam (Northampton Saints, 14 caps)
George McGuigan (Gloucester Rugby, uncapped)
Bevan Rodd (Sale Sharks, 2 caps)
Sam Simmonds (Exeter Chiefs, 18 caps)
Kyle Sinckler (Bristol Bears, 56 caps)
Mako Vunipola (Saracens, 74 caps)
Jack Walker (Harlequins, uncapped)
Jack Willis (Toulouse, 6 caps)
BACKS
Elliot Daly (Saracens, 57 caps)
Owen Farrell (Saracens, 101 caps)
Tommy Freeman (Northampton Saints, 3 caps)
Ollie Hassell-Collins (London Irish, uncapped)
Dan Kelly (Leicester Tigers, 1 cap)
Max Malins (Saracens, 14 caps)
Joe Marchant (Harlequins, 13 caps)
Alex Mitchell (Northampton Saints, 1 cap)
Cadan Murley (Harlequins, uncapped)
Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs, 52 caps)
Fin Smith (Northampton Saints, uncapped)
Marcus Smith (Harlequins, 17 caps)
Freddie Steward (Leicester Tigers, 17 caps)
Manu Tuilagi (Sale Sharks, 50 caps)
Jack van Poortvliet (Leicester Tigers, 7 caps)
Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers, 121 caps)