Sam Simmonds versus Frans Malherbe ends in brutal fashion
Frans Malherbe is maybe the best scrummager in the world, but while his 125kg frame comes in handy at the set piece, it lets him down in other areas of the game.
One of those other areas of the game is when he is ever so slightly out of position, and trying to defend Exeter Chiefs’ Sam Simmonds.
The England No8 was given half a metre by Malherbe, and as a result there was only going to be one winner. Simmonds burst through the line and glided through for a try to give the Chiefs a 28-0 lead at Sandy Park in their Heineken Champions Cup quarter-final encounter.
Simmonds did not feature for England over the Six Nations, and looks like he has a point to prove at the moment, particularly off the back of a man of the match performance against Montpellier last week.
Take a look at the try:
Sam-azing 😆@samsimmonds_ spots a gap and bursts through it, scoring @ExeterChiefs' 4️⃣th try!
They lead the Stormers 28-0 😳#HeinekenChampionsCup pic.twitter.com/lDdJtld9bA
— Heineken Champions Cup (@ChampionsCup) April 8, 2023
On Simmonds’ performance against Montpellier last week, Exeter rugby director Rob Baxter said: “He looked almost impossible to handle sometimes.
“He very nearly scored a solo try that would have written the game off and he was one of the guys who got his levels right for what he wanted to achieve today.
“We’ve had a few rollercoasters over the years. I am really pleased for the players. We’ve challenged them a bit this season around some of the highs and lows of performances.”
But Baxter did not big up his side’s chances against Stormers. His side have proven their coach wrong.
“I know not many people will give us a chance against them,” he said.
“They dealt with Harlequins pretty easily (on Saturday) and Harlequins dealt with us pretty easily two weeks ago, so that’s it – game over.
“But that is quite a nice place to start from for us. We are not going to physically change much this week. We have just got to get our emotional batteries recharged.”
