Zach Mercer: ‘I want to be part of the World Cup but I’ve got to work hard’

A s far as Zach Mercer is concerned there is not even an argument. “A lot better,” he says, when asked to compare himself with the person and player who left Bath for Montpellier two years ago. “I feel like I’ve developed massively by playing in France. I wanted to be comfortable with being uncomfortable and I did that. I’ve had to mature and grow up.”

In many ways his cheerful demeanour as he drives home from training tells the story without him even needing to spell it out. No one in Europe is better qualified to talk about the pluses of a change of scene across the Channel, and another exciting chapter beckons as he and his pregnant wife, Emily, prepare to return to the UK this summer.

English rugby should, frankly, be grateful for the outstanding repair job that a spell beside the Mediterranean has had on the 25-year-old’s mood, self-belief and outlook. To be crowned last season’s Top 14 player of the year, given the talent within French rugby, was a remarkable feat and, to cap it off, Montpellier lifted the title as well. Even now, Mercer still momentarily catches himself. “To win player of the year and win the league … I don’t think it would have happened at Bath, to be honest with you.”

The next horizon, beyond Sunday’s Champions Cup last-16 showdown with Exeter at Sandy Park, is to blast his way into England’s plans for this autumn’s World Cup. He becomes officially eligible again on 1 July and, given England’s bottom-half finish in the Six Nations, Steve Borthwick and his coaching staff will surely be keen to utilise the rangy No 8’s dexterity and dynamism off the base at the earliest possible opportunity.

But how and why has it taken two years away from English rugby to restore Mercer to the player he