'A real point of difference': The evidence that convinced the Lions to back Sam Simmonds even though he hasn't played a Test in 38 months
It sounds like a far-fetched experiment, picking a player to go on a Lions to South Africa who hasn’t played at Test level since March 2018, but tour boss Warren Gatland and attack coach Gregor Townsend have explained precisely why England outcast Sam Simmonds was a must-pick selection in their eyes for the trip to the home of the World Cup-winning Springboks.
Simmonds enjoyed a fairytale rise from obscurity at the start of his career, going from playing Championship level rugby for Cornish Pirates to making an England Test debut eleven months later in November 2017. However, he didn’t stay around all that long in the international fold.
He last featured under Eddie Jones when they were beaten by Ireland in a closing round Six Nations game in March 2018 and while a ruptured ACL six months later put his career on hold for a considerable time while he battled back to fitness, a challenge he told RugbyPass all about in a revealing April 2019 interview, he has since remained overlooked by England despite his stellar trophy-winning form for Exeter.
Jones has stubbornly stood by Billy Vunipola when it comes to filling the England No8 jersey, refusing to even call up Simmonds to training and take a closer look at a player whose try-scoring figures and dynamic ball-carrying have been lighting up the Gallagher Premiership and Heineken Champions Cup for quite some time.
However, this consistent level of club performance resulted in Gatland sounding out Simmonds at the start of the year and he followed up that interest by turning up at some recent Exeter to watch the back-rower strut his stuff live. With Vunipola struggling for form at Test level, the Lions boss saw enough in Simmonds’ Chiefs displays to convince him to include the 26-year-old in his squad to take on South Africa who apparently don’t enjoy facing deceptive players.
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“It was just looking at South Africa, just looking at the opposition a little bit,” said Gatland when asked why he had decided to select a back-rower who hasn’t played a Test match in years. “If you tuck your ball under your arm and run straight they [South Africa] love that sort of thing, so I was conscious of having balance in our back row.
“One of the things he [Simmonds] has, and Taulupe Faletau, is that footwork and deception… he’s quick, he can run lots of variations and we have seen him at Exeter do that really effectively from lineout, not just as a forward carrying but almost running like a back.
“He gives us some really good options but then again you are trying to get that loose forward balance right. Exeter have that with (Dave) Ewers and (Jacques) Vermeulen, a big six and a big seven. It complements him well and gives him the opportunity to do the things that he does well. I’m conscious of that and that when we pick our team we look at our loose forwards, but we have also got to make sure we get our second row and front row combinations right too.”
This dynamism which Simmonds has was something assistant coach Townsend elaborated further on when he was asked for his thoughts on the Lions backing a player who hasn’t featured in the Test arena for an age. “He is undoubtedly a back-rower who can add to your attack and who you would want on the ball as much as possible and there is a number of ways that he does that.
“Exeter use him out wide off set-piece plays, he is dynamic off the base of the scrum and if you are playing the multi-phase game you want him on the ball. There might be a little more kicking at Test level than in a few club games so getting him involved on the counter-attack, whether it is catching the ball or being a second or third receiver out there, his pace has shown that he can do that as well as the centres and some of the wingers we have in the squad.”
Townsend had no qualms about Simmonds going from Exeter to the Lions without being involved with England. “You see a consistent level of performance from him and Exeter have played some big games, semi-final and final in Europe last year and in the Premiership, and he stood out against international players.
“He is going to be going up against international players on this tour like he has for Exeter. He has got a real point of difference and that is something that we appreciate in being able to play a different way, he brings a different skill set and physical ability to others in the squad.
“It is really important we have that balance, have that ability to go we want to play more this type of rugby or want to play more another type of rugby or want to change the way we want to play during a game. There are players that are flexible and adaptable who should be able to do that.”
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Comments on RugbyPass
Ouch for my team the Bulls but Leinster just in another league in that second half.
1 Go to commentsReally proud to be at last nights game, beating one of our arch rivals Chiefs. Tom Christie did well as captain. He should be the captain when ever Scott Barrett is unavailable. Fine player, Johnny McNicoll was inspirational , he and Sevu Reece compliment each other.
11 Go to commentsConfirmed conclusively that 1. the Chiefs are a one man band 2. DMac is THE vital cog for Robertsons success with the ABs.
1 Go to commentsWrong again Nick! Shoch horror….. This article aged very quickly didnt it.
96 Go to commentsFunny how between 2008-2018 the crusaders did not win the majority of titles… it was spread evenly amongst NZ.
96 Go to commentsThe same might be happening in NZ soon. What is the point of changing the setup to englands Championship?
3 Go to commentsSack the coach.
4 Go to commentsDon’t worry about the Crusaders they have some great talent coming through.
1 Go to commentsThe Crusaders terminally ill team missing 8-9 projected starters at the beginning of the season manhandle a Chiefs team missing just DMac.
96 Go to commentsBig difference from the Crusaders last night. Hotham and McNicoll were sparks but everyone seemed dialed in. Young lock Hannah has no stop and Kellow deserves more game time based on his performance. Being captain seemed to lift Christie’s game and with Strange running the lineout there was a big improvement from Bell (including his brilliant individual try). Good to see Reihana running freely and making a solid contribution from the bench. In the absence of Burke, he makes that backline more potent. Also, good to see Aumua with more of a role. If they can back this up, they could move up the table as some of their “names” return (Barrett, Blackadder, Burke, Taylor, Williams, etc).
11 Go to commentsI think this is unduly harsh. I agree that we must hold them to high standards and that is what they produced in the second half against Italy with 14 men in their first run out for nearly 6 months trying to play an expanded game. Admittedly, the first half was at best disjointed but they worked it out sufficiently to blow Italy out of the water. No other team appears to be able to live with them over 80 minutes at the moment and they still have a huge amount of improvement to make. Their match in France will be the next acid test. That is the next real yardstick.
1 Go to commentsNot sure 700k is worth it. He’ll be coming on for the Hail Mary plays. Cannon fodder.
10 Go to commentsBest situation in the world for the potential of his success in the NFL. Cutthroat, we’ll yeah little buddy, that’s one of the reasons why, at least in the States, it is by far and away the best sports draw. The point is: It’s not only that he’d have Mahomes as his QB, and all the T. Kelce blocking bullshit needs to stop (he’s not a prototypical blocking TE ya numb nuts), it’s that he will have arguably one of the greatest football minds in Andy Reid scheming for him. In the NFL, the most important thing is situation. If the ignoramus Jets signed him, then he’d be screwed from go.
10 Go to commentsWe’re building a bridge but can't agree where the river is.
3 Go to commentsfirst no arms shoulder or helmet tackle into his rib cage is going to be so very painful even to watch. go back to RU mate.
10 Go to commentsBulls by 5. Plus another 50.
4 Go to commentsJohan Goosen avatar. Cute. Surely someone at RP knows how to do a google image search?
4 Go to commentsCan’t these games play a little earlier? Asking for a friend.
4 Go to commentsIt’s impressive that we can see huge stadiums with attendance in the 40 000 to 50 000 region. It shows how popular this competition is becoming. What is even more impressive is the massive growth in broadcast viewership. The URC is one of the two best leagues in the World, the other being the Top14.
7 Go to commentsChristie is not Sottish, like the majority of the Scotland team.
2 Go to comments