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What Rob Baxter really feels about England boss Eddie Jones and his treatment of the snubbed Sam Simmonds
Exeter boss Rob Baxter has opened up about the true level of his disappointment that in-form Sam Simmonds was overlooked by England boss Eddie Jones for the entire Guinness Six Nations campaign.
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Baxter was diplomatic earlier in the campaign, telling RugbyPass in the wake of the opening round defeat for England by Scotland: “Whether his focus is to prove people right or to prove people wrong, whatever his driver is, it’s working very well for him because he is performing very well in some tough games for us.
“What it comes down to is how they perform at the weekend and what he has shown is that he is dealing with it exceptionally well.”
Six weeks later and with the 26-year-old Simmonds still without an England cap since a March 2018 appearance versus Ireland, Baxter was far more elaborative about the ongoing omission of the Exeter No8 from his country’s Test squad.
With Simmonds burning up the Gallagher Premiership try-scoring charts – his tally of 14 is six more than next-best Alex Dombrandt – there was a myriad of calls for him to get an England call-up, Lawrence Dallaglio being among those supporters most vocal in advancing the Exeter player’s credentials.
Sam Simmonds has scored 52 tries in 76 Test, Premiership and Champions Cup games compared to Billy Vunipola's 32 tries in 208…
– Yet Simmonds is playing on Saturday at Sandy Park while Vunipola runs out at Twickenham with England ?#SixNations #ENGvITAhttps://t.co/VjIpqY4UpY
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) February 13, 2021
However, this all fell on deaf ears as Jones stuck to what he had and started the inconsistent Billy Vunipola in all five England games at No8, favouritism that did the team few if any favours as Vunipola’s poor campaign was encapsulated by how Ireland’s CJ Stander easily sat him down with one second-half Aviva Stadium carry last Saturday.
With the Six Nations finished, the focus has now shifted to whether Simmonds can secure Lions selection despite not having featured for England this spring and his try-scoring performance some weeks ago for Exeter at Bath must surely count in his favour as Warren Gatland was present on that particular Saturday at The Rec.
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Asked was he disappointed and surprised by how Jones ignored Simmonds for the entire England campaign, Baxter said: “I would say yes. Probably not initially because for obvious reasons the England team had had some success in the early season games and so there is no real argument at that stage for breaking that team up. That’s the truth, that’s professional sport.
“But potentially once it became obvious there were we some guys who were just lacking form, be it through lack of game time or whatever it was, I was a little surprised there weren’t some changes made,” continued Baxter at his weekly club media conference on Tuesday, three days after England’s Six Nations ended with a whimper in Dublin.
“Then again, and this is why we have got to all sit back and see the bigger picture, there were some pretty difficult decisions that had to be made around that 28-man Covid bubble that was agreed before the tournament started. It’s probably a really difficult scenario.
“When you break it down you had a group of players that had been successful together and you can’t say they hadn’t. Whatever anyone thought about the quality of rugby, they were winning games.
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“Then we were in a scenario where it is relatively difficult to chop and change that squad as it would be too fluid and there was the scenario where some of your key players from the earlier games just hadn’t played any rugby for months.
“If there was going to be an error in the squad, the error was maybe not making an early realisation that some guys would just be off form through lack of rugby. But again, everybody can make those decisions and make those things in hindsight.
"A No8 with pace off the base of the scrum, getting over the gain line…"
– Ex-England skipper Lawrence Dallaglio wants Test rugby fans to be able to savour the talent Sam Simmonds has #SixNations #PremRugby #BATvEXEhttps://t.co/maiYuM71kI
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) March 6, 2021
“That is what they are, some of those form decisions. They are purely hindsight because they couldn’t have been made at the time as the players weren’t playing. It’s more of a complex question than quite simply that.
“For Sam, he is doing exactly what he needs to do. He is playing very, very well every week, he is scoring tries, he is doing what he is good at and fair play to him, he is doing it in front of the people who really matter. Up at Bath he had a very, very good game and who was stood in the grandstand? Warren Gatland.
“Warren Gatland is the guy who can pick Sam next for the international scenario. That is his next opportunity now. His next England opportunity will be a bit behind that, so he is doing the right thing, he is playing well for us in front of the right people.”
Rob Baxter didn't shy away from questions about Eddie Jones and England at his weekly media conference on Tuesday
https://t.co/3O1n7EXw24— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) March 23, 2021
Comments on RugbyPass
Billy's been playing consistently well for 2 - 3 seasons now and deserves a look in at the top level. Ioane and ALB are still first choice but there needs to be injury cover and succession. His partnership with Jordie gives him first dibs you'd think. Go the Hurricanes.
3 Go to commentsIt’s not up to Wales to support Georgian Rugby. That’s up to International Rugby and Georgia. I sympathise with Georgia’s decent attempt to create this fixture. But for Wales the proposed match up is just a potential stick to beat them with and a potential big psychological blow that young Welsh team doesn’t need. (I’m Irish BTW.)
2 Go to commentsCale certainly looks great in space, but as you say, he has struggled in contact. At 23 years old, turning 24 this year, he should be close to full physical maturity and yet there exists a considerable gap in the power and physicality required for international rugby. Weight doesn’t automatically equate to power and physicality either. Can he go from a player who’s being physically dominated in Super rugby to physically dominating in international rugby in 1 or 2 years? That’s a big ask but he may end up being a late bloomer.
28 Go to commentsIf rugby wants to remain interesting in the AI era then it will need to work on changing the rules. AI will reduce the tactical advantage of smart game plans, will neutralize primary attacking weapons, and will move rugby from a being a game of inches to a game of millimetres. It will be about sheer athleticism and technique,about avoiding mistakes, and about referees. Many fans will find that boring. The answer is to add creative degrees of freedom to the game. The 50-22 is an example. But we can have fun inventing others, like the right to add more players for X minutes per game, or the equivalent of the 2-point conversion in American football, the ability to call a 12-player scrum, etc. Not saying these are great ideas, but making the point that the more of these alternatives you allow, the less AI will be able to lock down high-probability strategies. This is not because AI does not have the compute power, but because it has more choices and has less data, or less-specific data. That will take time and debate, but big, positive and immediate impact could be in the area of ref/TMO assistance. The technology is easily good enough today to detect forward passes, not-straight lineouts, offside at breakdown/scrum/lineout, obstruction, early/late tackles, and a lot of other things. WR should be ultra aggressive in doing this, as it will really help in an area in which the game is really struggling. In the long run there needs to be substantial creativity applied to the rules. Without that AI (along with all of the pro innovations) will turn rugby into a bash fest.
24 Go to commentsSouth Africa rarely play Ireland and France on these tours. Mostly, England, Scotland and Wales. I wonder why
1 Go to commentsIt was a let’s-see-what-you're-made-of type of a game. The Bulls do look good when the opposition allows them to, but Munster shut them down, and they could not find a way through. Jake should be very worried about their chances in the competition.
2 Go to commentsHats off to Fabian for a very impressive journey to date. Is it as ‘uniquely unlikely’ as Rugby Pass suggests, given Anton Segner’s journey at the Blues?
1 Go to commentsSad that this was not confirmed. When administrators talk about expanding the game they evidently don’t include pathways to the top tier of rugby for teams outside of the old boys club. Rugby deserves better, and certainly Georgia does.
2 Go to commentsLions might take him on if they move on Van Rooyen but I doubt he will want to go back, might consider it a step backwards for himself. Sharks would take him on but if Plumtree goes on to win the challenge cup they will keep him on. Also sharks showing some promising signs recently. Stormers and Bulls are stable and Springboks are already filled up. Quality coach though, interesting to see where he ends up
1 Go to commentsAnd the person responsible for creating a culture of accountability is?
3 Go to commentsMore useless words from Ben Smith -Please get another team to write about. SA really dont need your input, it suck anyway.
264 Go to commentsThis disgraceful episode must result in management and coach team sackings. A new manager with worse results than previous and the coaching staff need to coached. Awful massacre led by donkeys.
1 Go to commentsInteresting article with one glaring mistake. This sentence: “And between the top four nations right now, Ireland, France, South Africa, and New Zealand…” should read: And between the top four nations right now, South Africa, Ireland, New Zealand and France…”. Get it right wistful thinkers, its not that hard.
24 Go to commentsHow did Penny get the gig anyway?
3 Go to commentsNice write up Nick and I would have agreed a week ago. However as you would know Cale & co got absolutely monstered by the Blues back row of Sotutu, Ioane and Papaliti and not all of these 3 are guaranteed a start in the Black jumper. He may need to put some kgs before stepping up, Spring tour? After the week end Joe will be a bit more restless. Will need to pick a mobile tough pack for Wales and hope England does the right thing and bashes the ABs. I like your last paragraph but I would bring Swinton, Hannigan into the 6 role and Bobby V to 8
28 Go to commentsThe Crusaders can still get in to the Play Off’s. The imminent return of outstanding captain Scott Barrett and his All Black team mate Codie Taylor will be a big boost.There are others like Tamaiti Williams too. Two home games coming up. Fellow Crusader fans get there and support these guys. I will be.
2 Go to commentsCant get more Wellington than Proctor.
3 Go to commentsWhy not let the media decide. Like how they choose the head coach. Like most of us we entrust the rugby system to choose. A rugby team includes the coaches. It's collective.
14 Go to commentsHi NIck, I have been very impressed with him and he seems a smart player who can see opportunities which Bobby V _(who must be an international 6_) doesn’t see or have the speed to take advantage of. If he continues to improve and puts on 5kgs then he could be a great 8. He is a bit taller than Keiran Reid at 1.93m and 111 kgs, so his skill set fits his body size and who knows where it will lead. I hope the spate of Achilles tendon issues have been dealt with by the S&C people. It’s been a very long time since Mark Loane and Kefu stood out at 8. The question is will we be able to hold onto him, if he does make it he will be pretty hot property. I disagree with the idea of letting them go to the Northern Hemisphere and then bring them back.
28 Go to commentsBilly Fulton 🤣🤣🤣🤣 garrrmon not even close
14 Go to comments