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Lions pick Sam Simmonds voted the 2020/21 Premiership player of the year
By Kim Ekin
Free-scoring Exeter No8 Sam Simmonds has been crowned the Gallagher Premiership player of the season for 2020/21, the award capping a remarkable campaign in which he broke the record for the most tries in a single top-flight season with 20 touch downs.
Simmonds has been instrumental in another fine year for the Chiefs, who finished second in the Premiership table to book a semi-final place and keep alive their hopes of retaining the title. The Torquay-born back-rower had already been recognised for an outstanding season with a call-up by the British and Irish Lions for their summer tour to South Africa and he has now capped that feat with the prestigious Gallagher award.
Gallagher ambassador and BT Sport pundit Ugo Monye believes Simmonds' ability to stand out in a league brimming with quality shows how high his standards have risen. “Sam has been phenomenal this year.
"He started the season fuelled by bitter disappointment (through lack of England selection), but he has focused on it in the right way, to become a record-breaker, help his team into the Gallagher Premiership Rugby semi-finals and is now a British and Irish Lion.
“He has excelled in a year where it has been tough for all players in the Gallagher Premiership, with back-to-back seasons and not much time off. But he hasn’t let off from being European player of the year last season to Premiership player of the year this season, which is outstanding.
“His season has been one of the best individual seasons in Premiership history. When you are breaking any sort of record, it has to be put down as a memorable year. He has smashed the try record - not only beaten it but smashed it. That is the kind of form he has been in. It is unbelievable when you consider just how many talented players we have in Gallagher Premiership Rugby, and yet he has been the shining star, among a galaxy of superstars."
Simmonds edged out Harlequins fly-half Marcus Smith to win the award, with the latter selected as the runner-up. Smith continued his remarkable rise with a brilliant year at The Stoop, finishing the regular season as the highest points-scoring individual in the entire league.
The 22-year-old scored 270 points in total, 82 more than Sale Sharks’ AJ MacGinty who was next in the rankings. An elusive and dangerous runner, Smith has once again been one of the most exciting players to watch in the Gallagher Premiership, as Quins prepare for a return to the semi-finals. Another Chief, Dave Ewers, was third after he played a big part in his team’s success this season, chipping in with six crucial tries of his own.
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Latest Comments
Skelton may be brought back for the Wallabies so that would be the only reason that may hinder Wilson. Easily the form, most skilful and game IQ of any Oz 8. Valentini’s best and favourite position is 6, but lineouts may be an issue with Skelton, Valentini and Wilson. Will be interesting what Schmidt goes for but for me Wilson should be picked on form. Schmidt rewards work rate, skill and consistency. All that glitters every so often won’t be in contention. Greely is one of those players that has a knack of making the right decision. A coach is going to love him because he knows week in week out he’s going to get the job done. The second try Greely wasn’t the guy who made the initial break it was Flook, Greely was at the bottom of the ruck when Flook was off along the sideline. Greely got up and made the effort to catch up with play but also read the play nicely and hit the pass from Campbell at pace and then held the pass beautifully to Ryan.
Go to commentsSharks deserved to be far further back by the last quarter. Their tackling was awful, their set pieces were disappointing, their defensive organization was poor (especially on the Kok side of the D line), they kept making unnecessary errors, and they never looked like cracking the Clermont defense during those first 60m. Masuku kept them in touch, with some help from the Clermont generosity on penalty opportunities. Agree with the writer of this article. It was belligerence, and ability to raise their pressure game just enough, that turned the last quarter into a Bok-style shutout. Clermont have a reputation of not playing the full 80m, and there was a bit of that for sure. But, quite often when the intensity of a team drops off in the last quarter credit is due to the opponent for tiring them out. At 60m, with the Kok try, you thought that just maybe the game was on. At 70m, with the Mapimpi contribution, one felt that Clermont were fading, while facing a team that would maintain the pressure game through the final whistle. Good win in the end, but the Sharks are still playing way below their potential. And with their resources, and a coach that has had enough time to figure things out, they are running out of excuses.
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