Play Sam again, Eddie
SIMMONDS READY TO ROAR
SAM SIMMONDS today finds himself closer to British and Irish Lions selection than being picked by England.
European club rugby’s player of the year has more than twice as many tries as any other player in the Premiership.
His 13th in only 12 league games this season for Exeter was watched at Bath on Saturday by Lions boss Warren Gatland.
It led Lawrence Dallaglio, the World Cup winner in Simmonds’ No8 position, to demand that Eddie Jones give him a go.
“Sam was outstanding, as per usual,” Dallaglio said. “Scoring tries, affecting the game. Come on! People have got to see this. A No8 with pace off the base of the scrum, getting over the gainline. Pick him!”
Dallaglio’s exhortation followed Simmonds’ brother Joe revealing in these pages on Saturday the family frustration at neither getting a look-in.
“Sam is playing his best rugby and for me is by far the best player in the Premiership,” said Chiefs’ young captain. “He’s playing consistently better than some internationals.”
Jones admitted yesterday for the first time that England, beaten in two of their three Six Nations games, are “definitely going through a transition period”. He added that there needed to be a “little bit of a revision” of the team to “freshen it up”.
But ahead of Saturday’s home clash with France, who will not have played for a month, he would not talk about Sam Simmonds.
“I’m only here to speak about players I’ve selected,” he said, denying he is in any way ignorant as to what Simmonds is doing.
The 26-year-old is not so much pulling up trees as replanting forests. In 68 games for Exeter he has 60 tries, a club-record 44 in 60 in the Premiership.
In contrast, current England No8 Billy Vunipola, left, has played little rugby and until last week in Wales had not got over the gain line, let alone the try line.
With the Six Nations title out of reach it would seem an opportune time to speed up the “transition”.
But Jones said: “When I select a player I want them to be ready and if I don’t think they’re ready to play, just because we’re going through a tough spell it’s not a reason to put them in.
“We need to start changing it but we’ll do that in what to us – if maybe not others – is an ordered way. We have a plan of how we want to keep the team fresh and moving forward.”