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100-cap Rob Simmons the latest high profile Wallaby to sign for London Irish

(Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)

London Irish have bolstered their Gallagher Premiership squad with another high profile Wallaby, convincing 100-cap Rob Simmons to join an expanding contingent of Australians at the club. While Sale Sharks have concentrated on bringing in South African power to the Premiership, the Exiles have opted for experienced Wallaby talent.

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RugbyPass understands that Simmons is due to arrive in October, following fellow lock Adam Coleman (38 caps), prop Sekope Kepu (110 caps), scrum-half Nick Phipps (72 caps) and centre Curtis Rona (3 caps) to the club which is temporarily based at the Twickenham Stoop while the Brentford Community Stadium is completed.

The 6ft 7in lock has represented Australia in 100 Test matches since making his debut in 2010, bringing up his century of caps against Georgia at last year’s World Cup in Japan. It was his third World Cup having previously featured at the 2011 and 2015 tournaments.

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Simmons started his career playing in the Australian Rugby Championship for East Coast Aces, with his Super Rugby debut for Reds coming in 2008.

With over 100 Super Rugby appearances, the 31-year-old moved to Waratahs in 2018. At the time he acknowledged interest from overseas clubs and knew that with more than 60 caps he would still be considered for Wallaby selection if he moved overseas. 

He said: “The Wallabies have been a big part of my life for nearly a decade now and I’m hugely proud whenever I get the chance to wear the Wallaby jersey.

“I obviously knew that I had the option to still play for Australia and be based overseas and I had interest from a few clubs, but that just wasn’t what I wanted to do.”

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The Irish are also bringing full-back Tom Homer back from Bath, the club he joined from the Exiles in 2015. Homer was a regular for England at U18 and U20 levels and was leading scorer in the Junior World Championships with 118 points. He will be linking up with the Exiles squad shortly.

https://twitter.com/RugbyPass/status/1288081858450915333

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O
Oh no, not him again? 2 hours ago
England internationals disagree on final play execution vs All Blacks

Okay, so we blew it big time on Saturday. So rather than repeating what most people have all ready said, what do I want to see from Borthwick going forward?


Let's keep Marcus Smith on the pitch if he's fit and playing well. I was really pleased with his goal kicking. It used to be his weakness. I feel sympathy for George Ford who hadn't kicked all match and then had a kick to win the game. You hear pundits and commentators commend kickers who have come off the bench and pulled that off. Its not easy. If Steve B continues to substitute players with no clear reason then he is going to get criticised.


On paper I thought England would beat NZ if they played to their potential and didn't show NZ too much respect. Okay, the off the ball tackles certainly stopped England scoring tries, but I would have liked to see more smashing over gainlines and less kicking for position. Yes, I also know it's the Springbok endorsed world cup double winning formula but the Kiwi defence isn't the Bok defence, is it. If you have the power to put Smith on the front foot then why muzzle him? I guess what I'm saying is back, yourself. Why give the momentum to a team like NZ? Why feed the beast? Don't give the ball to NZ. Well d'uh.


Our scrum is a long term weakness. If you are going to play Itoje then he needs an ogre next door and a decent front row. Where is our third world class lock? Where are are realible front row bench replacements? The England scrum has been flakey for a while now. It blows hot and cold. Our front five bench is not world class.


On the positive side I love our starting backrow right now. I'd like to see them stick together through to the next world cup.


Anyway, there is always another Saturday.

7 Go to comments
C
CO 2 hours ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

Robertson is more a manager of coaches than a coach so it comes down to intent of outcomes at a high level. I like his intent, I like the fact his Allblacks are really driving the outcomes however as he's pointed out the high error rates are not test level and their control of the game is driving both wins and losses. England didn't have to play a lot of rugby, they made far fewer mistakes and were extremely unlucky not to win.


In fact the English team were very early in their season and should've been comfortably beaten by an Allblacks team that had played multiple tests together.


Razor has himself recognised that to be the best they'll have to sort out the crisis levels of mistakes that have really increased since the first two tests against England.


Early tackles were a classic example of hyper enthusiasm to not give an inch, that passion that Razor has achieved is going to be formidable once the unforced errors are eliminated.


That's his secret, he's already rebuilt the passion and that's the most important aspect, its inevitable that he'll now eradicate the unforced errors. When that happens a fellow tier one nation is going to get thrashed. I don't think it will be until 2025 though.


The Allblacks will lose both tests against Ireland and France if they play high error rates rugby like they did against England.


To get the unforced errors under control he's going to be needing to handover the number eight role to Sititi and reset expectations of what loose forwards do. Establish a clear distinction with a large, swarthy lineout jumper at six that is a feared runner and dominant tackler and a turnover specialist at seven that is abrasive in contact. He'll then need to build depth behind the three starters and ruthlessly select for that group to be peaking in 2027 in hit Australian conditions on firm, dry grounds.


It's going to help him that Savea is shifting to the worst super rugby franchise where he's going to struggle behind a beaten pack every week.


The under performing loose forward trio is the key driver of the high error rates and unacceptable turn overs due to awol link work. Sititi is looking like he's superman compared to his openside and eight.


At this late stage in the season they shouldn't be operating with just the one outstanding loose forward out of four selected for the English test. That's an abject failure but I think Robertson's sacrificing link quality on purpose to build passion amongst the junior Allblacks as they see the reverential treatment the old warhorses are receiving for their long term hard graft.


It's unfortunately losing test matches and making what should be comfortable wins into nail biters but it's early in the world cup cycle so perhaps it's a sacrifice worth making.


However if this was F1 then Sam Cane would be Riccardo and Ardie would be heading into Perez territory so the loose forwards desperately need revitalisation through a rebuild over the next season to complement the formidable tight five.

28 Go to comments
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