LUDLOW-born Jonny Hill has been backed for full international honours with England having penned a new contract with Exeter Chiefs.

The 22-year-old lock, formerly with Luctonians, was handed a fresh deal on Monday to keep him playing for the Devon club until at least the summer of 2019.

Baxter has been impressed with Hill’s progress since arriving from Premiership rivals Gloucester two years ago despite being blighted by injury and believes the world is his oyster.

“Jonny is a young man who has broken through into the first-team squad,” said Baxter.

“You can see him becoming a very important member of the back five of the scrum for us.

“He looks like a player with ever-growing potential and while it is going to be important for us to help him fulfil that, I can see him becoming a full international rugby player as long as he is prepared to work very hard.

“What you are seeing from Jonny is that he has come in and had to work extremely hard to get over a pretty serious ankle injury, which also created some instability issues around his knee.

“That was a big part of his first six to 12 months at the club but now he is up and running and able to get on the training field and play more regularly, we are starting to see him thrive.

“He has got the physical attributes to become a huge man and a big player. He has still got a lot of hard work to do and that is the thing he is going to have to get used to doing every single day, because he is going to have to manage himself to get the best out of himself.

“But as long as we can help him pursue that desire to be the best he can be, he could be a very good player.”