Why Simmonds’ England exile does not measure up to scrutiny
➤ Statistics show that Exeter’s European Player of the Year is the best No8 in the country – and he can prove it with Lions
After Sam Simmonds set up Jonny Gray’s try for Exeter against Bath recently, Lawrence Dallaglio seemed to have had enough. Commentating on BT Sport, Dallaglio almost sounded in pain as the replay was shown of Simmonds picking up the ball at the back of the scrum with one hand before surging forward until he was tackled, with Exeter recycling and then moving the ball wide to score.
“Come on, people have got to see this,” he implored. “A No8 with pace off the base of the scrum, getting over the gain line. Pick him!”
If anyone knows what playing at No8 for England requires, it is probably Dallaglio, who has won 88 Test caps. It does not take a genius to work out who Dallaglio’s plea was directed at. Here we are at the end of another international window in which Simmonds has not featured for his country, despite being the best No8 in England and the European Player of the Year. He has scored 14 tries in 14 Premiership matches this season, to go with his 10 in the previous campaign when Exeter lifted the Premiership title, plus the Champions Cup.
When comparing all Premiership players since the start of the 2019-20 season in matches across the Premiership and Europe, Simmonds’ 33 tries are 15 more than anyone else.
He has made more carries and gained more metres than anyone else, the latter despite making 15 fewer clean breaks than Harlequins’ Alex Dombrandt, who deserves his own article questioning why England are not impressed by his performances.
Simmonds ranks third for defenders beaten, behind Exeter teammate Tom O’flaherty and Bristol’s Nathan Hughes, but also – and this might interest the naysayers who believe Simmonds is not physical enough – is fourth for tackles made. Plus, he has produced seven assists, again second behind Dombrandt.
This is all after returning from a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament suffered in 2018, which fortunately did not affect his dynamic footwork and pace. “The defensive side of his game is way, way better,” Exeter head coach Ali Hepher recently said of Simmonds. “He still has that explosiveness, and he’s stronger.”
It is more than three years since Simmonds won his seventh and most recent cap for England, against Ireland in the Six Nations, and in that time he has made significant strides. “If Sam thinks his international career is gone he’d be completely wrong,” Rob Baxter, the Exeter director of rugby, said last year. But you could forgive Simmonds for having serious doubts on that front given he has been playing out of his skin for the past two years without getting even a sniff of a call-up.
His celebration after scoring an outrageous try for Exeter to open the new season at Harlequins – arms outstretched in a pure demonstration of “what more do I need to do” – spoke volumes.
In the wake of this underwhelming Six Nations campaign from England, their decision to omit in-form players has been risible, and Simmonds sits at the top of the list of quality operators being passed over.
England may not want to select Simmonds even within their squad, but the British and Irish Lions certainly might when they head to South Africa, as Baxter noted after that win over Bath.
“For Sam, he is doing exactly what he needs to do,” Baxter said. “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 good game, and who was in the grandstand? Warren Gatland – 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, playing well for us in front of the right people.”
Simmonds’ detractors usually point to his size, admittedly an easy target if you are drawn to the obvious visual difference in height and weight between two players, rather than focusing on production on the field.
This is not necessarily about having to choose between Simmonds and Billy Vunipola because you could technically have both in the same back row, as my colleague Charlie Morgan pointed out when analysing how the Exeter player would fit into various Lions combinations.
With England, surely there comes a point where if a player is performing at such a stratospherically high level, then rather than making excuses suggesting they might not fit into your system, you adapt your approach to fit that person. Especially when you are finishing fifth in the Six Nations.
Jerome Kaino, the former All Black who knows a thing or two about playing in the back row, billed Simmonds recently as the best loose forward in Europe. But for those still not convinced, here is how Simmonds’s performances over the past two seasons stack up against Vunipola’s, taking their average inputs over 80 minutes in the Premiership. Ignoring line-outs, where Vunipola does not jump, the results are interesting.
Vunipola has made more carries, offloads and passes. Simmonds has made more ground, both overall and, crucially, on average per carry, plus more than double the clean breaks and has beaten nearly triple the number of defenders. Simmonds has a far better tackle success rate of 95 per cent and concedes fewer penalties and turnovers. On form, picking between the two, it has to be Simmonds.
Should Simmonds be chosen by Gatland for the Lions having been overlooked by Eddie Jones over the past 18 months, his call-up should be regarded as a damning indictment of England’s selection policy.
But it should not take Simmonds being part of the Lions squad for Jones and England to appreciate they have made a mistake, because the evidence is clear. When it comes to Simmonds, Dallaglio’s words should be echoing in the selectors’ ears. Pick him.