Sam Simmonds plans to continue his pursuit this season of what he describes as an “ultimate goal” – World Cup selection.
And it will be difficult to bet against the Exeter and England back-row forward continuing his startling progress for club and country.
In the past 18 months, 23-year-old Simmonds has gone from making his league debut to helping Exeter be crowned English champions, as well as winning seven England caps, which included scoring two tries on his Six Nations debut against Italy.
With the Rugby World Cup in Japan just over a year away, Simmonds knows that he faces an intense career spell that could start at Sandy Park and finish in Yokohama.
“I see this season as quite a big one for me,” Simmonds said.
“I will take it week by week, and if I can perform well for Exeter, which I hope I can, that then puts me in good stead for international honours.
“The England experience has been eye-opening. It’s great. I feel like it has improved me as a player and improved my understanding of the game.
Saracens celebrate after beating Exeter Chiefs in last season’s Premiership final.
“When I first turned up, I was nervous, but now I am looking forward to going back and to keep kicking on.
“It would be a dream to play in a World Cup. That is a long-term goal, but the short-term goal is to play well for Exeter and to hopefully be involved in the autumn series, which rolls on to the Six Nations, and the ultimate goal is the World Cup.
“In my mind, it is so far away, although I am sure it will creep up quite quickly.”
Simmonds’ ability to play with pace, power and considerable footballing skills has underpinned him shooting through the ranks.
It proved a rapid rise to the top, making his England bow just nine months after first gaining a place in Exeter’s Premiership team, but he quickly grasped the situation.
“I felt at the time that I couldn’t sit back and think I’ve played for England and won the Premiership, because I felt if I did that I would just stop and be happy with what I had done,” he added.
“You need to keep pushing on and moving forward, and I feel like the time I have had off this summer has allowed me to do that.”
Exeter, Premiership finalists in each of the past three seasons and 2017 champions, begin their latest title quest at home to Leicester on Saturday.
And after losing against Saracens at Twickenham three months ago, the Chiefs have no intention of seeing their healthy appetite for silverware diminish.
Exeter Chiefs’ director of rugby Rob Baxter.
“Rob (Exeter rugby director Rob Baxter) has said we felt that the first year we got there, it was like ‘wow, we are in the Premiership final’, then the second year we got over that and won it,” Simmonds continued.
“We finished top last season, we were the best team throughout the year, but we just weren’t as good as Saracens were on the day. It’s sport. It happens.
“We weren’t good enough to win on the day, but the great thing about sport is you get other opportunities.”
*Simmonds was speaking at the opening of Exeter Chiefs’ new fitness analysis suite, launched in partnership with Red Bull.
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