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'There's a perception because he's not 130kgs and 6'4 that he can't mix with the big boys'

Sam Simmonds /PA

Chris Robshaw has given his take on fellow back row Sam Simmonds’ absence from Eddie Jones’ England squad, saying he “doesn’t fit the jigsaw” because of his size.

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The former England captain was a guest on RugbyPass Offload this week, joining Christina Mahon and Jamie Roberts from Las Vegas, where he is based while playing for the San Diego Legion.

After England’s poor showing at the Guinness Six Nations, the topic of Simmonds’ omission from the squad was raised, as it continues to be one of the decisions that Jones is questioned over the most.
The Exeter Chiefs No8 won the last of his seven caps in the 2018 Six Nations, playing in a back row alongside Robshaw. He suffered a long-term ACL injury later that year, and has never made an England squad since, despite being named the 2020 European player of the year after winning the domestic and European double with the Chiefs.

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Chris Robshaw talks to The Offload:

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Chris Robshaw talks to The Offload:

Robshaw shared what Simmonds’ coach Rob Baxter has said in the past, that the 26-year-old is not the size of a stereotypical Test No8, but still feels there is a place for the Exeter man in an England squad.

“He’s the form player, he’s playing well, but he doesn’t fit the jigsaw,” the 66-cap Englishman said.
“Every coach has a jigsaw in front of them and every player is a piece. Sometimes your piece fits and other times it doesn’t and maybe your piece fits a different coach. Down at Exeter they love him and he plays well.

“I think with Sam there’s a perception because he’s not 130kgs and 6’4 that he can’t mix with the big boys. But you look how powerful he is and you look at when he goes up against the likes of Toulouse, their pack is monstrous, and he is making gain line after gain line and making inroads and knocking people back. Sometimes perception plays on people’s minds I think, what certain people look like or do they fit the mould, but I would have loved to see him in there.

“Personally, when they’re playing well, I still think the best back row is the [Tom] Curry, the [Sam] Underhill and the [Billy] Vunipola, however I would love to see Sam Simmonds on the bench for the last 20 or 30 minutes. The game has opened up, tired bodies out there, I think he would be brilliant.”

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“He’s got good footwork, he’s powerful in the contact, but he doesn’t look 6’4 and 130kgs, I honestly think that is the difference.

“When people say “I want an international No8,” you look at Vunipola, [Taulupe] Faletau, Duane Vermeulen, Kieran Read, these types of guys who are all that kind of build. But you look at Ben Earl can sit on the bench and he can cover all three positions, so why can’t someone like Sam Simmonds come on?

“Because he has had some international experience, he has had that taste, I think that is sometimes more frustrating as a player. You’ve had that taste, you want to be back there, you know everyone is saying “you should be playing, you should be playing,” and it is tough not to get drawn into that.”

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J
JW 2 hours ago
'Passionate reunion of France and New Zealand shows Fabien Galthie is wrong to rest his stars'

Ok, managed to read the full article..

... New Zealand’s has only 14 and the professional season is all over within four months. In France, club governance is the responsibility of an independent organisation [the Ligue Nationale de Rugby or LNR] which is entirely separate from the host union [the Fédération Française de Rugby or FFR]. Down south New Zealand Rugby runs the provincial and the national game.

That is the National Provincial Championship, a competition of 14 representative union based teams run through the SH international window and only semi professional (paid only during it's running). It is run by NZR and goes for two and a half months.


Super Rugby is a competition involving 12 fully professional teams, of which 5 are of New Zealand eligibility, and another joint administered team of Pacific Island eligibility, with NZR involvement. It was a 18 week competition this year, so involved (randomly chosen I believe) extra return fixtures (2 or 3 home and away derbys), and is run by Super Rugby Pacific's own independent Board (or organisation). The teams may or may not be independently run and owned (note, this does not necessarily mean what you think of as 'privately owned').


LNR was setup by FFR and the French Government to administer the professional game in France. In New Zealand, the Players Association and Super Rugby franchises agreed last month to not setup their own governance structure for professional rugby and re-aligned themselves with New Zealand Rugby. They had been proposing to do something like the English model, I'm not sure how closely that would have been aligned to the French system but it did not sound like it would have French union executive representation on it like the LNR does.

In the shaky isles the professional pyramid tapers to a point with the almighty All Blacks. In France the feeling for country is no more important than the sense of fierce local identity spawned at myriad clubs concentrated in the southwest. Progress is achieved by a nonchalant shrug and the wide sweep of nuanced negotiation, rather than driven from the top by a single intense focus.

Yes, it is pretty much a 'representative' selection system at every level, but these union's are having to fight for their existence against the regime that is NZR, and are currently going through their own battle, just as France has recently as I understand it. A single focus, ala the French game, might not be the best outcome for rugby as a whole.


For pure theatre, it is a wonderful article so far. I prefer 'Ntamack New Zealand 2022' though.

The young Crusader still struggles to solve the puzzle posed by the shorter, more compact tight-heads at this level but he had no problem at all with Colombe.

It was interesting to listen to Manny during an interview on Maul or Nothing, he citied that after a bit of banter with the All Black's he no longer wanted one of their jersey's after the game. One of those talks was an eye to eye chat with Tamaiti Williams, there appear to be nothing between the lock and prop, just a lot of give and take. I thought TW angled in and caused Taylor to pop a few times, and that NZ were lucky to be rewarded.

f you have a forward of 6ft 8ins and 145kg, and he is not at all disturbed by a dysfunctional set-piece, you are in business.

He talked about the clarity of the leadership that helped alleviate any need for anxiety at the predicaments unfolding before him. The same cannot be said for New Zealand when they had 5 minutes left to retrieve a match winning penalty, I don't believe. Did the team in black have much of a plan at any point in the game? I don't really call an autonomous 10 vehicle they had as innovative. I think Razor needs to go back to the dealer and get a new game driver on that one.

Vaa’i is no match for his power on the ground. Even in reverse, Meafou is like a tractor motoring backwards in low gear, trampling all in its path.

Vaa'i actually stops him in his tracks. He gets what could have been a dubious 'tackle' on him?

A high-level offence will often try to identify and exploit big forwards who can be slower to reload, and therefore vulnerable to two quick plays run at them consecutively.

Yes he was just standing on his haunches wasn't he? He mentioned that in the interview, saying that not only did you just get up and back into the line to find the opposition was already set and running at you they also hit harder than anything he'd experienced in the Top 14. He was referring to New Zealands ultra-physical, burst-based Super style of course, which he was more than a bit surprised about. I don't blame him for being caught out.


He still sent the obstruction back to the repair yard though!

What wouldn’t the New Zealand rugby public give to see the likes of Mauvaka and Meafou up front..

Common now Nick, don't go there! Meafou showed his Toulouse shirt and promptly got his citizenship, New Zealand can't have him, surely?!?


As I have said before with these subjects, really enjoy your enthusiasm for their contribution on the field and I'd love to see more of their shapes running out for Vern Cotter and the like styled teams.

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