'Whether his focus is to prove people right or wrong, whatever his driver is it's working very well for him'
Exeter have paid tribute to Sam Simmonds, the unwanted England back row who has been lighting up the Gallagher Premiership scoring charts this season with a flurry of tries following his latest snub by Test boss Eddie Jones. Simmonds has scored nine tries in his eight league outings this term with defending champions Exeter, four more than next-best Paolo Odogwu of Wasps and Harlequins’ Alex Dombrandt.
So prolific is his scoring, his 45 points had him listed in seventh spot in the league’s most points category, which is supposed to be dominated by place-kickers, going into this weekend’s round nine games.
In making 309 metres from his 94 carries, the Premiership’s December player of the month has beaten 17 defenders and made eight clean breaks while his tackle completion is running at 95 per cent, 74 tackles made and just the four missed.
This rich vein of form, though, hasn’t been rewarded by the sniff of a look-in with England as the last of his seven caps continues to be the March 2018 Six Nations loss to Ireland at Twickenham.
The 26-year-old Simmonds suffered serious injury since then, an ordeal which he spoke openly about to RugbyPass in April 2019, but he returned with a bang, scoring nine tries as Exeter won last season’s Heineken Champions Cup and ten tries to help his team become Premiership champions.
“I haven’t actually (seen it). That might be something to do to get my head around it"
England backrow @samsimmonds_ talks to @heagneyl about his biggest career battle to date ???? https://t.co/8ieVt3iQbD
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) April 28, 2019
Overall, Simmonds has a prolific career try-scoring record of 52 tries in 76 Test, Premiership and Champions Cup appearances compared to Billy Vunipola’s 32 tries in 208 Test, Premiership and Champions Cup appearances – yet Simmonds is playing for Exeter at Sandy Park this Saturday while Vunipola, an out-and-out Jones favourite, runs out at Twickenham again as the preferred No8 despite his latest below-par performance in last week’s loss to Scotland.
How long more this strike rate of Simmonds can be ignored, who knows? What is clear is that Rob Baxter is revelling in seeing his No8 play so dominantly week after week after week. “What it comes down to is how they perform at the weekend and what he [Simmonds] has shown is that he is dealing with it exceptionally well,” said Baxter when quizzed by RugbyPass this week about his player’s stellar form and his ongoing non-selection by England.
“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 you see with Sam is he massively complements the rest of that (Exeter) pack of forwards, he complements the make-up of that back row, he complements the make-up of the back five of the scrum and he complements the make-up of the pack of a whole and he complements us as a team.
“That is what you need, you want each one of your 15 guys who are on the field to have a key role. They have obviously got to be an all-round rugby player, which Sam is because he gets talked about a lot as an attacker and as a ball-carrier and as a try-scorer but he is actually a very good defender.
“If you watch the quality of some of his collisions last weekend (at Newcastle) there is no way anyone is going to turnaround and say he is not a big defender as well. It’s that explosive raw power and speed that contributes to what he gives to the team as a back row forward,” continued Baxter, who team’s recent form suggests they have overcome the two league defeats they suffered in early January.
“As an example, having him work off the base of the scrum gives you great options in attack. In particular close to the opposition line, our five-metre attack does rely on power ball carriers over short distances which he is very good at so he scores in that area.
“And obviously if you set up any kind of a maul or a driving game you want the ball to be in the hands of the person who can make something happen if that maul breaks down or if it needs that final surge of power to get you over that last metre or so.
“He slots into filling all those roles really well and what we try to do with Sam is make sure we get the ball in his hands as much as possible because he has got the attributes that get him over a try line. That is what you do if you have got an attribute, you get the ball in that person’s hands.
“The challenge for any team when it has won trophies is not to hang in there and try and win it again, the challenge is how many players can have that season’s best tally in everything because that will ultimately drive you to another successful year.
“We talked to the players a lot about this. I said they need to have their best individual season this season because that is our best way of winning anything so if Sam has his best individual season as a try scorer, that is what gives us the best opportunity of winning a trophy at the end of the season. If you just try and have a season like last year we will go backwards, so it should be about individual targets and it should be about individual records, that is the way it should be.”
The Chiefs tighthead won his first cap in 18 months last Saturday at Twickenham, but is now surplus to requirement #SixNations #ENGvSCO #GallagherPremhttps://t.co/gR9DvE9SLK
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) February 10, 2021
Comments on RugbyPass
Mark Telea is a lot of things, but a defensive juggernaut has never been one of them. There will be far bigger tests in that regard for the youngster.
9 Go to commentsLove and respect to Fiji but not a chance outside of 7s
3 Go to commentsGood summation Ned. Agree the Canes were out-muscled for once (except at the scrum!) by a focused Brumbies outfit. Tua deserves consideration for higher honors after the way he humbled Jordie and the Canes defense. Thankfully, his lack of eligibility for Oz keeps him from Joe’s plans. While I also agree the injuries affected the Canes performance, some players seemed to lack focus and intensity for this match. Perhaps after the Blues demolished the Brumbies, they thought it was going to be easy? A good reminder that any slip up in preparation can have a big affect on the result. Brumbies deserved that win.
1 Go to commentsKarl Dixon should never have been appointed this fixture, absolute disgrace, He’s not much of a referee anyway, didn't have the balls to send his mate care off
5 Go to commentsBrilliant article! Harry of 8/9
1 Go to comments‘UK athletes' have been in the NFL from the start.
1 Go to commentsIt’s going to be Scott Barrett. He’s the coaches mate and captain of a previously elite team. Ardie a great option but scooter has worked with the coach and Ardie still as big a leader as needed.
23 Go to commentsI commend Colin Scotts bio All Balls. He was the first Aussie to make it to NFL. But he was poached and did a full apprenticeship at the University of Hawaii. He was 130kgs surfed played 1st grade cricket etc. big guy by normal but not NFL standards and a top athlete. Even then the nfl were picking up Tongans and Samoans for their natural size and explosive power. They want explosive power not cardio from the big boys so a guy like Taniela Tupou would have been good if picked up young enough. He has fast twitch and they’d bulk the little lad up and give him something to do. soccer teams set up academies and look for Over Sara’s talent eg Messi was at Barcelona since a teenager and harry kewell went to Leeds as a teenager like 16 or something.
11 Go to commentsThe article alludes to the fact that this isn’t about picking a captain. But picking a great captain. So who would make for a great All Black captain - not just an obvious or safe shoo-in? I’m not sure Ardie’s the guy and Barret doesn’t stand out either.
23 Go to commentsI guess we may all agree on the fact, that the ABs and Boks are the two in contest for No 1 in rugby history (the triple-A sort of) …. the Wallabies, England and France are the next tier, with Ireland being the new kid in town (AA) …. in my view it makes little sense creating imaginary competitions (unless you have too much time to waste)
45 Go to commentsWhat a joke. Total joke and the pundits commentating, all of whom know a bit about the game, could barely disguise their contempt. Reaching for the card then pulling back when he realised a red card would carry further match suspensions is simply not his decision to make. A clear and obvious influence on the outcome of this match and indeed, the championship path.
5 Go to commentsI like the idea, in NZ the Ranfurly Shield and NPC coexist, both having their own bragging rights. The World Cup would be the pinnacle, but the competition and travels of these trophies would be interesting.
45 Go to commentsDon’t worry Sonny bill Williams leave that awkward situation about the curfew in the pass whoever it was it doesn’t matter its no big deal we back our All Blacks through the storm and the thunder until we see the Sun light again.
42 Go to commentsWho listens to this retard? He was a massive liability as a player but obviously a media sensation
42 Go to commentsI’m not surprised by such ‘virtue signalling’ by Sonny Boy. Butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth. He’s such a pious Islamic muppet, imo.
42 Go to commentsI’ve actually never heard of the guy (then I don’t watch League as it is boring). But if he is good enough.. then good luck to him. If not, well, he can always return to league.
2 Go to commentsIt is pretty clear that by almost any measure that NZ are a more successful rugby nation than South Africa. Quite aside from the distasteful events during the last RWC final. NZ lead SA in all significant measurements.
45 Go to commentsDickson went to his pocket for a card, saw who it was, changed his mind and spoke at length to TMO. One angle clearly shows Care diving over a Saints player to kill the ball. 1st yellow, reason given for not Red was player was falling backwards. He was only falling backwards after contact with Lawes. Graham try should have stood. Mitchell did not have both hands on the ball, ball went forward from a Saints boot dragging over it. 2 intentional knock-on's. One of which had an overlap on the outside. If Quins are happy to win by intentional foul play, then it does not say much for them. Would appear to be a bad day for Karl Dickson, also for the RFU in appointing a Ref who spent 8 years as a player at one of the clubs.
5 Go to commentsLet’s not forget about Ardie Savea just yet.
9 Go to commentsThe URC and the Euro Championscup can’t run at the same time, basically dilutes both competitions.
2 Go to comments