Simmonds not at peace with England omission
Exeter Chiefs number eight still hopes his time will come to represent his country
IT is one of rugby’s great mysteries. And now, the man himself has given his thoughts on why he is not wearing the white jersey and red rose of England.
Sam Simmonds is a Premiership and European champion with Exeter Chiefs. He was so good in 2019/20 that he was crowned as the European player of the year and his club form this season has been exceptional, scoring an incredible 13 tries, which is seven more than Bristol’s Ratu Naulago, who is second in the Premiership’s top try scorers list.
For some time now, Simmonds has performed consistently well and displayed characteristics that are deserving of him being given a chance with Eddie Jones’ England. But, for some reason, he is continually overlooked by the head coach.
Pundits, fans, coaches and fellow players have all called for Simmonds to be given his chance, but he has not even made a squad for the current Six Nations campaign, let alone be named in the starting XV. In fact, you have to go back to March 2018 to see his last involvement with England, when he played 67 minutes of a 24-15 defeat to Ireland at Twickenham.
Speaking on the ‘Good, the bad and the Rugby’ podcast, 26-year-old Simmonds spoke candidly about his continued omission from the squad. “I don’t know if I am at peace with it,” he admits. “Maybe before I was, saying that if i keep playing well, these opportunities will come, because that is genuinely how my first involvement came.
“I wasn’t really young, I was 22 when I was first involved with England but, at the time, I was like: ‘if I keep playing well, I’ll get a chance.’ I had only started maybe ten games for the Chiefs and I got called up. But I feel like I’ve been playing well post my injury in 2018/19. I feel like I’ve been playing well consistently now for the last season and a half, something like that, but I do understand that there are other players playing well as well.
“I don’t just think: ‘oh, I’m playing well, I should be picked.’ Or that they shouldn’t be picked – I genuinely don’t think like that. I feel like there are other players and they have an affect as well on selection.
“Whether fans or whether pundits like it or not, its Eddie that picks the team and it’s a tough decision. It’s not exactly easy to get the best England players in a team of, whatever you can pick, 30, or something like that.
“I’m not the only one that’s missing out. There are plenty of players that are playing very well as well, but in saying that, I do think I will get the opportunity and I do think my time will come sooner or later and when it does, I’ll hopefully be ready.
“I will be more ready than I was back in 2017/18 because that came as a shock to me, playing for England, and it is probably the first time I have said that. The international game is completely different to club rugby.”
When asked what the big difference is, Simmonds said: “It’s so physical. It’s probably not as quick – there are players that are quick and you’ve got to be in the game, but whether they play at a higher tempo than premiership or European rugby, they probably don’t.
“But it is definitely more physical and it is kind of like a game of chess. If you don’t go over the gainline, you’re kicking the ball and it’s tough – it was tough.
“I found it tough when I played. I found the training tough, but I feel like I’ve matured as a player. I know what I want now and I know I want to be involved again, of course I do. Like I said, hopefully when it comes, I’ll be ready.”
With England having had a pretty ordinary Six Nations campaign and losing their grip on a title they won in 2020, the calls for Simmonds’ inclusion grow with every touchdown and man of the match performance the man from Teignmouth turns in for Exeter.
He knows England are watching and admits that, while Jones hasn’t spoken to him personally for a while now, he knows what he has to do to force his way into the international picture.
“In my own head I do,” Simmonds said. “He (Jones) hasn’t specifically said: ‘you need to do this’ but he has told me in the past what I need to do. He has told me after a couple of months: ‘you’ve improved this, well done, we are keeping an eye on you’ and stuff like that.
“But I know what I need to do personally. I know being smaller is a hindrance on how physical you can be, so to work on those areas... you can’t really work on those areas in training. It’s playing and proving on the pitch that you are physical, or in head-to-heads when you come up against players that are in your position, or players that might keep you from getting in the squad. That’s when you need to play well.
“Maybe in the past, I haven’t played as well as I could but, again, it’s tough to pick me when there are other players playing well as well.”