Free-again Jonny Hill 'playing for a contract' after ban

England forward Jonny Hill, who was given a 10-week suspension following an incident involving a Bath fan in June, will signal the end of a year he would rather forget by returning to action for Sale Sharks in the Investec European Champions Cup clash at Glasgow Warriors this weekend.

Hill suffered a serious patella injury in the same competition last January and has not played since that blow and was watching the Sale match in the stands against Bath when the incident happened. He received a 10-week RFU ban with four weeks suspended until next season making him eligible for selection from December 7.

The British and Irish Lions lock was due to join Lyon at the end of last season but that deal collapsed due to the injury and now he is attempting to secure a new deal with Sale, who are also set to confirm that England hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie has agreed a new contract at the club. Cowan-Dickie and Hill were team-mates at Exeter and their lineout expertise could be crucial in the second half of the season for Sale who showed renewed attacking power to defeat Leicester Tigers last weekend.

Alex Sanderson is understandably delighted to add Hill’s skills to his match-day squad against what he describes as basically the Scotland team when they tackle Glasgow. Sanderson said; “Jonny is playing for a contract and he wants to stay here. I told him to get back playing well and then he is in a position of strength. He is going to be good enough and I don’t want to lowball him. He is buzzing to get back on the field.

“Jonny has been remarkably unaffected and is pretty laid back when you speak to him. When he loses it you think ‘where has that come from’ and so he has got a bit of anger in him but is pretty laid back. So things wash over him. He has been very involved here with the lineout meetings and that has kept him part of things.

“It has given him some work and he has been training for weeks and able to get his fitness to where it needs to be. He has it in him to have the occasional brain fart and for people who are competitive you expect that with so much to do.

"Luke Cowan-Dickie has been playing out of his skin – the best he has ever played. His lineout stats are the best in the Premiership and Jonny is coming into a pack that is playing well and we have to stay hungry and he needs to add to the pack.”

“The situation with Luke is very positive and he wants to stay and we want to keep him and have come to some understanding of his worth financially.”