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Wallabies lock Rob Simmons is on the move

Australia international Rob Simmons

Wallabies lock Rob Simmons has swapped the Reds for the Waratahs on a two-year deal, it was announced on Thursday.

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Simmons has committed to the Waratahs and Australian Rugby Union (ARU) until the end of 2019.

The 28-year-old Australia international made 114 appearances for the Reds in Queensland, where he won the Super Rugby title in 2011.

“I’m really looking forward to joining the lads in Sydney, they have a great team with a balance of experience and some very good young players and some big goals to achieve in Super Rugby,” Simmons – a 73-cap Test veteran – said.

“Queensland has been great to me but I’m looking forward to doing whatever I can to take the Tahs to where they want to be. Hopefully I can add some experience to the side, and we can push for finals next year.

“I definitely wanted to stay in Australian Rugby. I love playing for the Wallabies and hopefully I’ll have another chance to pull on the gold jersey next weekend against South Africa.”

Waratahs head coach Daryl Gibson added: “What stood out was that even with 73 Test caps to his credit, Rob is still hungry to play at the highest possible level and his determination to get there will drive our whole pack forward.

“Our younger locks like Ryan McCauley and Tom Staniforth will benefit from having Rob working with them and teaching them from his years of experience as a Test player.

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“We’re still a young team and what Rob will bring is that edge that comes from his 100 plus Super Rugby caps and his vast Test experience. Rob adds a great dimension to our lineout and a real strength in our scrums.”

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Tom 8 hours ago
Will Bristol's daredevil 'Bears-ball' deliver the trophy they crave?

Also a Bristol fan and echo your sentiments.


I love watching Bristol but their approach will only get them so far I think. Exeter played like this when they first got promoted to the prem and had intermittent success, it wasn't until they wised up and played a more balanced game that they became a consistently top side.


I really want Bristol to continue playing this brand of rugby and I don't mind them running it from under their posts but I don't think they need to do it every single time. They need to be just a little bit more selective about when and where on the pitch they play. Every game they put themselves under so much needless pressure by turning the ball over under their posts trying to do kamikaze moves when it's not required. By all means run it from your goal line if there is a chance for a counter attack, we all want to see Bristol running in 100m tries from under their posts but I think until they learn when to do it and when to be pragmatic, they are unlikely to win the premiership.


Defense has been a real positive from Bristol, they've shown a lot of improvement there... And I will say that I think this kamikaze strategy they employ is a very good one for a struggling side and could be employed by Newcastle. It's seems to have turned around Gloucester's fortunes. The big advantage is even if you don't have the biggest and best players, what you have is cohesion. This is why Scotland keep battering England. England have better individuals but they look muddled as a team, trying to play a mixed strategy under coaches who lack charisma, the team has no identity. Scotland come out and give it full throttle from 1-15 even if they struggle against the top sides, sides like England and Wales who lack that identity drown under the relentless will and synergy of the Scots. If Newcastle did the same they could really surprise some people, I know the weather is bad up there but it hasn't bothered the Scots. Bristol can learn from Scotland too, Pat is on to something when he says the following but Scotland don't play test matches like headless chickens. They still play with the same level of clarity and ambition Bristol do but they are much better at picking their moments. They needed to go back to this mad game to get their cohesion back after a couple of seasons struggling but I hope they get a bit wiser from matches like Leinster and La Rochelle.


“If there’s clarity on what you’re trying to do as a team you can win anything.”

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