In times of trouble, Saints can always call Paul

Tighthead prop Paul Hill is adept at dealing with difficult situations, with his upbeat personality making him a hugely popular figure at Franklin’s Gardens.

In fact, just last week, Saints director of rugby Chris Boyd was asked who makes him laugh the most at the club.

And his answer was Hill.

“At least I’m in the good books,” said Hill, laughing.

Hill has shown his strengths on and off the field in recent years, entertaining fans and players alike with one of his trademark quizzes when Saints were stranded in the snow in Timisoara a few years back.

He also did a series of online quizzes during lockdown to keep spirits high among Saints staff.

But with the rugby action now back on, Hill is turning his hand to putting smiles on the faces on the field.

And last weekend, he produced one of his most influential performances for Saints, starring in not one, but two shifts against Wasps.

Owen Franks came on to replace Hill in the 58th minute of the match at the Ricoh Arena but was quickly forced off with concussion.

It meant a rapid return for Hill, who not only came back on but who played a huge part in earning some late scrum penalties that deprived Wasps of the possession they needed to complete their second-half comeback.

Lee Blackett’s side had roared back from 22-0 down at half-time and were just five points behind going into the final 10 minutes.

And with Piers Francis in the sin bin for 10 of the final 12 minutes, Saints looked in real trouble.

But the likes of Hill and co-captain Lewis Ludlam stood tall to win vital penalties at key times.

And Saints were able to celebrate a third Gallagher Premiership win on the spin.

“We were happy to walk away with points in the league but performance wise, there was something lacking,” Hill said.

“But you’d much rather have it that you walk away with a win and some work-ons rather than feeling you played great and taking no points, so it’s good in that aspect.”

And how was it for Hill, having to come back on so soon after looking forward to putting his feet up?

“Fortunately enough, it was a short enough time that I was still ready to go back on,” said the 25-year-old.

But what’s funny is that when we come off now, we have to immediately put a mask on but I always tape my head and I can’t actually get the mask over my ears because they are taped.

“So I was panicking thinking I needed to tape my ears again and I was shouting at the physios to run back in the changing room to grab me some.

“But it was all good and I had a short enough time that I was still in a getting ready mode.

“I appreciated a little bit of a break and I think I caught my second wind.

“Anything over 60 minutes is always difficult for a tighthead but it went all right and I genuinely consider myself fit compared to most tightheads and I managed to eke out those final 15 minutes.”

As he is so adept in the loose, Hill’s tight work often gets overlooked.

But his scrummaging is something he continues to work extremely hard on.

“It’s a constant aspect and it is what a tighthead’s job is to do: to sort the scrum out,” he said.

“This year we’ve had a really good mentality and we don’t want to be sitting ducks.

“It’s that old attack-is-the-best-form-of-defence so in any situation if you’re the one who’s always being aggressive, you sometimes risk being on the wrong side of the ref, but you always want to be the one who is pressuring the opposition.

“On the weekend, it all just came together.

“I’ve had a good run and it’s just about doing it week in, week out.”

And now Hill is setting his sights on a Newcastle Falcons side who have won on their past three Premiership visits to Northampton.

"I remember the games over the past few years," said Hill ahead of Saturday's game at Franklin's Gardens.

"They've beaten us at home a few times and I remember it.

"We know that they're a team that if they're in a close distance they are clinical and they've been able to grind teams down.

"They're a serious threat.

"Newcastle have bounced up and down but they've managed to tighten up aspects they were weak in and they've put some good teams away.

"We need to get a lead and extend it as early as possible."