Hill's fighting fit again
By Mark Stevens
10/11/17
Sam Hill is looking to put six months of injury hell firmly behind him as he targets reclaiming a place within Rob Baxter’s first-team mix at Exeter Chiefs.
The hard-running centre has been sidelined since Exeter’s 30-24 victory at Gloucester last May, when in the last play of the game Hill picked up what he thought was an innocuous foot injury.
As it turned out, the injury was much worse than Hill’s initial thoughts and not only did it rule him out of the subsequent Premiership semi-final against Saracens, but also the club’s Twickenham triumph against Wasps a week later.
It meant for a second season running, the 24-year-old was forced to sit and watch as his team-mates took to the turf at HQ, this time going one better and lifting English rugby’s top prize for the first time in the club’s history.
Whilst delighted to see the Chiefs top of the pile, it was a tough pill for the Exeter-born back to swallow from the sidelines.
“Having missed the final the year before because of a hamstring tear, it was really tough to miss out again,” said Hill. “I had played a lot of games leading up to the semi-final and was feeling good, but then I picked up the injury with virtually the last play of the game.
“I knew I had done something, just because it was quite painful, but I thought I would be okay. It was not until after that I found out just how bad it was, so it was really gutting. Although I loved watching the boys win the semi and then the final, it was really tough to watch from the sidelines and not be part of the match-day squad.
Since then, much of Hill’s time has been spent working with the club’s medical and rehabilitation staff, all in the quest to get back onto the field and causing havoc to opposition defences.
And last Saturday was a major milestone for Hill, who was given a 30-minute cameo in his side’s 43-28 Anglo-Welsh Cup victory over Northampton Saints at Sandy Park.
“It’s been a long and tough six months, a lot longer than I initially thought, so it was good to get back out there,” said Hill. “Obviously I’m looking to make the most of these two weeks, especially in terms of getting back up to speed, but with the boys going so well, it’s not going to be easy to get into the side.
“The most important thing, however, was just getting back out and playing again. In terms of the performance it was good, mainly in attack, but there were areas that we still need to work on. Second half we let a few sloppy tries in, but overall it was a good performance against a strong Saints team.”
More of the same will be required again this weekend when the Chiefs head to Wales to face the Scarlets in their second Anglo-Welsh Cup fixture of the season.
Again, the visitors are likely to parade another powerful line-up, including a clutch of international names – a far cry from a few years ago when Hill initially cut his first-team teeth in this very competition.
“It shows how much depth with have within the squad,” added Hill. “Right across the board we have quality players and it shows that anyone can come into the side, whoever we are playing against, and do a job in whatever competition.
“Playing any Welsh side away, you know it’s going to be tough. That said, we’re all looking forward to it. We’ve got a lot of guys who haven’t played a huge amount of rugby, so it’s good for all of them to get out there and show the coaches what they’ve got.
“For all the guys playing, the aim is to be playing week in, week out and they know that if they can put in a performance again this weekend, it will give them a good chance of playing again after this weekend.”