The Exeter Chiefs No.8’s hat-trick against London Irish not only took him to 19 tries, going past Christian Wade and Dominic Chapman on 17 but gave him the chance to increase his lead further with three regular-season games remaining.
In terms of overall career Premiership try totals it also took him closer to that other great try-scoring forward, my old England and Lions team-mate Neil Back. He finished his Leicester career with 61 touchdowns, whereas Simmonds has already scored 50 as the top try-scorer for the Chiefs at the age of 26.
Simmonds has the same knack that Back had of being in the right place at the right time, and what both of them also have in common is their understanding of the attacking shape of their team, and understanding what they have to do to make the most of it.
Most of Back’s tries came from the Tigers’ driving maul, which he steered expertly before applying the finishing touch. Simmonds is also very effective from the Exeter driving maul, but he also has very good finishing ability out wide.
Simmonds has such speed and athleticism in open play that sometimes you see him and think ‘that is a center out there. This is because he has a broad, far-reaching skillset, and is not just incredibly mobile and very quick for a forward, but also understands and reads the game very well.
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