HARD KNOCKS ARE HELPING TED

TED HILL reckons the calamity of Worcester's collapse hardened him up to take the knocks Test Tugby hands out.

- By Adam Hathaway

The back row, finally back on the international stage with England, was forced to move to Bath in 2022 when his boyhood club the Warriors went to the wall.

If that was a kick in the guts, he suffered more from England bosses Eddie Jones and Steve Borthwick (right, bottom), who cold-shouldered him consistently after his debut in 2018.

Hill won his first cap against Japan seven years ago and a second against USA in 2021, then was left on the shelf until he came off the bench in last weekend's 16-15 Calcutta Cup win.

Fin Smith and Ollie Lawrence, plus Scotland's Duhan van der Merwe, were other ex-Worcester players involved at Twickenham.