1
'They have allowed me to be me': What an ecstatic Sam Simmonds had to say in the wake of his Premiership try-scoring record
Sam Simmonds lit up the Gallagher Premiership on Tuesday night in London, the 2021 Lions squad pick pouncing for an Exeter try hat-trick which propelled him into the all-time English rugby record books. The Chiefs No8 came into the game one try behind the 23-year-old record of 17 top-flight tries in a single season set by Richmond’s Dominic Chapman in 1997/98, a tally equalled by Christian Wade of Wasps in the 2016/17 season.
ADVERTISEMENT
He joined the pair on 17 tries just seven minutes into the action at Brentford, broke the record on 24 minutes with his second try and then pushed the new mark out to 19 tries with his third score of the night nine minutes from time.
The last try also brought up the 50-tries-scored mark in his career total of 66 Premiership appearances for Exeter and Simmonds was in an ecstatic mood when interviewed shortly after the full-time whistle by BT Sport. Asked about setting a new Premiership try-scoring milestone, Simmonds said: “It meant a lot. As a team, we are striving for greatness and we’re striving to win the competition.
“I don’t know if you saw it on the pitch but the boys want me to score, they want me to get the record and they were putting me on the ball in those positions. Credit to those boys as well for helping me get this far in my career. It’s amazing.
“I’m very grateful. I turned up at Exeter at 18 not really know what position I wanted to play, about 85 kilos, some people probably still think I am about 85 kilos now. They have allowed me to be me and score tries and excel as a player and I can’t give just the club the credit, it’s not just the coaches but the players. The players do so much for me and everyone in the squad, I’m just so thankful to be a part of this team.”
There's no stopping Exeter's No8 Sam Simmonds as he breaks a Premiership try record that has stood since 1997/98… see how he did it ??#LIRvEXE https://t.co/rZn8Rta0H9
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) May 18, 2021
With a limited number of fans allowed in to watch the game following the lifting of the pandemic restrictions, the Exeter back-rower was serenaded by the chant of “Simmo is a Lion” from the Exeter fans in the London ground. “Sounds good,” he said about the Lions reference. “It’s all very surreal, still very surreal. It was never anything that I had dreamt of in my career.
“I wanted to play for Exeter, I wanted to play for Exeter in the Premiership. I wanted to play one time and that was it. I am lucky enough to have played a lot for Exeter over the last four or five years, I’m lucky enough to play for England back in 2017/18 and now I’m really looking forward to the summer.”
ADVERTISEMENT
Switching to Exeter’s improved Premiership form since their Heineken Champions Cup quarter-final loss to Leinster last month, Simmonds expressed high hopes of a London return next month for the Twickenham title decider.
“When you look at our results the last four have been really dominant performances. We are getting back to kind of where people would have thought we were last season. I feel like we are timing it right, we are timing it at the business end of the season.
“We have got a lot of players back whether it is from injury, international duty and yeah, we’re pretty confident, we’re pretty happy with where we are now. We know the pressure was on us because we did drop down to third and we want to cement that home semi-final spot. We’re very happy with the result.”
'I can definitely see it in some of his performances at Cornish Pirates because we were getting all the videos and in the Championship he had a point of difference in pace and power.'
– reports @heagneyl ???https://t.co/k7dZeN3jjR
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) May 16, 2021
Comments on RugbyPass
It couldn’t have been Ryan Crotty. He wasn’t selected in either World Cup side - they chose Money Bill instead. And Money Bill only cared about himself, and that manager he had, not the team.
25 Go to commentsYawn 🥱 nobody would give a hoot about this new trophy. End of the day we just have to beat Ireland and NZ this year then they can finally shut up 🤐
13 Go to commentsTalking bout Ryan Crotty? Heard Crotty say in a interview once that SBW doesen't care about the team . He went on to say that whenever they lost a big game, SBW would be happy as if nothing happened, according to him someone who cares would look down.. Personally I think Crotty is in the wrong, not for feeling gutted but for expecting others 2 be like him… I have been a bad loser forever as it matters so much to me but good on you SBW for being able to see the bigger picture….
25 Go to commentsThis sounds like a WWE idea so Americans can also get excited about rugby, RUGBY NEEDS A INTERNATIONAL CALENDER .. The rugby Championship and Six Nations can be held at same time, top 3 of six nations and top 3 of Rugby championship (6 nations should include Georgia AND another qualifying country while Fiji, Japan and Samoa/Tonga qualifier should make out 6 Southern teams).. Scrap June internationals and year end tours. Have a Elite top six Cup and the Bottom 6 in a secondary comp….
13 Go to commentsThe rugby championship would be even stronger with Fiji in it… I know it doesen’t fit the long term plans of NZ or Aus but you are robbing a whole nation of being able to see their best players play for Fiji…. Every second player in NZ and AUS teams has Fijian surnames… shame on you!!! World rugby won’t step in either as France and England has now also joined in…. I guess where money is involved it will always be the poor countries missing out….
80 Go to commentsNo surprise there. How hard can it be to pick a ball off the ground and chuck it to a mate? 😂
2 Go to commentsSometimes people just like a moan mate!
1 Go to commentsexcellent idea ! rugby needs this 💪
13 Go to comments9 Brumbies! What a joke! The best performing team in Oz! Ditch Skelton for Swain or Neville. Ryan Lonergan ahead of McDermott any day! Best selection bolter is Toole … amazing player
12 Go to commentsI like this, but ultimately rugby already has enough trophies. Trying to make more games “consequential" might prove to be a fools errand, although this is a less bad idea than some others. Minor quibble with the title of the article; it isn’t very meaningful to say the boks are the unofficial world champions when it would be functionally impossible for the Raeburn trophy not to be held by the world champions. There’s a period of a few months every 4 years when there is no “unofficial” world champion, and the Raeburn trophy is held by the actual world champions.
13 Go to commentsIts a great idea but one that I dont think will have a lot of traction. It will depend on the prestige that they each hold but if you can do that it would be great. When Japan beat the Boks (my team) I was absolutely devestated but I wont deny the great game they played that day. We were outclassed and it was one of the best games of rugby I have seen. Using an idea like this you might just give the the underdog teams more of an opportunity to beat the big teams and I can absolutely see it being a brilliant display of rugby. They beat us because they planned for that game. It was a great moment for Japan. This way we can remove the 4 year wait and give teams something to aim for outside of World Cup years.
13 Go to commentsHi, Dave here. Happy to answer questions 🥰
13 Go to commentsDon’t think that headline is accurate. It’s great to see Aus doing better but I’m not sure they’ve shown much threat to the top of the table. They shouldn’t be inflating wins against the lousy Highlanders and Crusaders either.
3 Go to commentsSuch a shame Roigard and Aumua picked up long term injuries, probably the two form players in the comp. Also, pretty sure Clarke Dermody isn’t their coach. Got it half right though.
3 Go to commentsOh the Aussie media, they never learn. At least Andrew Kellaway is like “Woah, yeah it’s great, but settle down there guys” having endured years of the Aussie media, fans, and often their players getting ahead of themselves only to fall flat on their faces. Have the “We'll win the Bledisloe for sure this year!” headlines started yet? It’s simple to see what’s going on. The Aussie teams are settled, they didn't lose any of their major players overseas. The Crusaders and Chiefs lost key experienced All Blacks, and Razor in the Crusaders case, and clearly neither are anywhere near as strong as last year (The Canes and Blues would probably be 3rd & 4th if they were). The Highlanders are annually average, even more so post-Aaron Smith and a big squad clean out. The two teams at the top? The two nz sides with largely the same settled roster as last year, except Ardie Savea for the Canes. They’ve both got far better coaches now too. If the Aussies are going to win the title, this is the year the kiwi sides will be weakest, so they better take their chance.
3 Go to commentsThe World Cup has to be the gold standard, line in the sand. 113 teams compete for what is the opportunity to make the pool stages, and then the knockout games for the trophy. The concept is sound. This must have been the rationale when the World Cup was created, surely? But I’m all for Looking forward and finding new ways for the SH to dominate the NH into the future. The autumn series needs a change up. Let’s start by having the NH teams come south every odd year for the Autumn/Spring series games?
13 Go to commentsWhat’ll happen when the AI models of the future go back in time and try to destroy the AI models of the past standing in their way of certain victory?
44 Go to commentsThanks, Nick. We (Seanny Maloney, Brett and I) just discussed Charlie as a potential Wallaby No 8, and wondered if he has truly realised how big he is in contact (and whether he can add 5 kg w/o slowing down). Your scouting report confirms our suspicions he has the materiel. No one knows if he has the mentality (as Johann van Graan said this week about CJ, Duane and Alfie B) to carry 10-15 times a game.
57 Go to commentsHe would be a great player for the Stormers, Dobbo should approach the guy.
3 Go to commentsGood article. A few years back when he was playing for the Cheetahs, he was a quiet standout for exactly the seasons stated here. I occasionally get to see his games in the UK, and he has become a more complete player and in many ways like an Irish player. His work ethic is so suitable to the Leinster game. I wonder if Rassie would have him listed somewhere.
3 Go to comments