FLANKER Ted Hill revealed he had been in touch with England boss Eddie Jones and would be “ready” for the Rugby World Cup — if required.

Worcester Warriors’ homegrown star came to Jones’ attention at the start of the 2018-19 season when he burst onto the scene in the Gallagher Premiership, resulting in him winning his first senior international cap last autumn.

Having not featured in Jones’ plans since then, Hill is unlikely to make the plane to Japan for the showpiece event in September.

But the 20-year-old, who has recently represented England in the World Under 20 Championship, said he had received encouragement from the national boss.

“I did speak to Eddie Jones while I was in Argentina,” Hill told the Rugby Paper.

“He did not say too much, just to keep doing what I am doing.

“If required I will be ready but I will have some time off now and then get back up and running in pre-season at Worcester.”

Hill scored eight tries in 23 games with 18 of those matches coming in the top flight last term as Warriors pulled clear of relegation trouble with three wins in their final four matches.

“There was a positive feeling at the club towards the end of last season and there definitely has to be a mind-shift now if we want to push into the top six,” Hill said.

“We do not want to keep being in battles at the bottom and must think about that now.

“We showed last season that we could beat good teams and showed a lot of skills and composure at times in doing that.

“It is just about finding that consistency of performance.”

Hill had hoped to help England under 20s secure silverware this summer but the national side finished fifth after several ill-disciplined showings.

But the forward, who first represented his country at under 16s level, felt he gained a lot from the tournament.

“We were obviously disappointed with the opening loss and discipline cost us,” Hill added.

“It is the main thing we had to work on throughout and with little or no lenience with the high tackle rule those cards really killed us off in that first game.

“But we improved that as the tournament went on and were really happy with how we finished.

“Argentina was a really good experience, the people in Santa Fe and Rosario turned out in good numbers and it is a really good tournament.

“Personally, it has been hugely beneficial going through the England age-group pathway and it is a vital part of preparing you for professional rugby.

“The junior world cup is a really tough tournament with five games in under three weeks so they are pretty short turnarounds and you learn a lot about recovery and how you handle all of that.”