Quins defeat cost me my form admits Simmonds
A YEAR after captaining Exeter to the Premiership and Champions Cups double, Joe Simmonds found himself on the bench and reflecting on what had gone wrong.
The 25-year-old started the Chiefs’ opening two Premiership matches, which both ended in defeat, and was then a replacement for six of the next seven games. The one he was recalled for was the home loss to London Irish.
It was only last month, against Saracens at Sandy Park, that Exeter won a match he had been involved in from the opening minute.
“I was not performing at the level I needed to and did not need Rob Baxter (Exeter’s director of rugby) to tell me what was going on,” said the outsidehalf. “I have been around the squad for five years, but the start of the season did not go as I had it in my head.
“I thought I was going to play every week and be one of the best players in the Premiership. It did not happen because I put too much pressure on myself. I used the weeks when I did not start to reflect on who I am and what I had done in the past and that helped me get back into the team.”
The Chiefs finished last season empty-handed after winning the double and Simmonds believes the loss to Harlequins in the Premiership final at Twickenham last June took more out of him than he realised at the time.
“Losing the final was tough to take,” said Simmonds, whose brother Sam is expected to be included this week in England’s Six Nations squad. “It stuck with me for too long and certainly affected me at the start of the season. I have learned now to let things go: worrying only makes it worse and I am enjoying my rugby again.”
Exeter are in sixth position at the halfway stage of the Premiership, some way below where they are accustomed to being having played in the last six finals, but Simmonds said they are primed for an assault on the top four.
“We knew that this season was going to be tough,” he said. “I don’t know why, it was just a feeling and we were right. We are in sixth place and a number of people have written us off.
“It is in our hands and we need to perform. We cannot look too far ahead and think about winning finals because we are not there at the moment. We need to start getting performances.
“We lost to Harlequins last weekend, but once we got over the initial disappointment, we realised there were a number of positives to take from what was a true Exeter display after we had gone a man down.
“We felt we were the better team and had the chance to win the game. We will be losing players for the Six Nations, but we have depth here.”
Simmonds has been replaced as captain by Luke Cowan-Dickie and is content to be back among the rank-and-file. “I had a great year as captain, but it has been nice to take a step back and talk when I need to.
“As captain, I felt I always had to talk. I loved being captain and winning trophies and would do it again if given the opportunity, but now I speak when I feel I need to and am much more confident for it. I like sitting back and focusing on what I have to do as a player.”