Sam Simmonds: England number eight ready for ‘hostile environment’ against Scotland in Six Nations clash
England number eight Sam Simmonds admits it would be a “perfect start” to the Six Nations if they were to overcome Scotland at Murrayfield.
Eddie Jones’ charges have struggled against Scotland in recent years, winning just once in their last four meetings, but still come into the fixture as favourites.
Simmonds, who has been preferred to Alex Dombrandt in the back-row this week, knows it will be a tough fixture for England but is ready for the atmosphere.
Hostile environment
“I’ve not played at Murrayfield before but we have got plenty of boys in the squad who have,” the Exeter powerhouse said, in what promises to be a gritty meeting.
“We’ve talked about the hostile environment and how we can use that and come together as a 15 and a 23, plus the boys who aren’t playing.
“We’ve talked about results in the past and maybe we haven’t played to our full potential. This week we’ve trained well – mentally and physically – and we’re in a very good place.
“What matters ultimately is the team performance. We have come up here to win. We want to get our Six Nations off to a good start and to win up here at Murrayfield would be the perfect start.”
Simmonds will perform the role of propelling England onto the front foot, with his explosive carrying the reason for his recall to the side.
It has been four years since he won the last of his seven caps as he fell out of favour under Jones until his destructive running for Exeter resulted in a call-up to last year’s Lions tour of South Africa where he made an additional Test appearance.
A loyal bandwagon of support followed the 27-year-old throughout the double-winning season of 2019–20 and although Jones appeared disinterested, Simmonds refused to give up.
“No, I never doubted myself. I had a long injury spell which kept me out from the end of 2018 and I pretty much missed the whole season in 2019,” he said.
“For me, my mindset was just about getting back to playing rugby, back to doing what I loved and putting a string of games together.
“Then in the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons I started playing well. You know when you are playing well and you know when people are talking about you.
“At the time, it was not like the other back rows in the England squad were playing badly. I always say that just because I was playing well does not mean there’s a spot for me when there are players like Tom Curry, Sam Underhill and Billy Vunipola.
“It was just about keep plugging away, keep improving on the things that Eddie and the other coaches want me to improve.
“I always knew that my time would come again. It was just a matter of when.”
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James While believes the fly-half and back-row battle will decide the result of Saturday's Six Nations game between Scotland and England at Murrayfield.