FALETAU V SIMMONDS: HOW IT ALL ADDS UP TO LIONS’ NO.8
ONE name has dominated the headlines of northern hemisphere rugby in the last few weeks - Sam Simmonds.
The Englishman, consistently and bemusingly overlooked by Eddie Jones, has been causing a stir, setting records in the Gallagher Premiership and earning a deserved Lions call-up in the process.
Incredibly, the barnstorming Exeter Chiefs No.8 has now set a record for tries scored in a Premiership season, sitting on 19 for the year with three regular season matches remaining.
His exploits proved too impressive for Warren Gatland to ignore, despite Jones’ reluctance to acknowledge the 26-year-old’s talents.
Simmonds will now, of course, rival Wales’ Taulupe Faletau and Ireland’s Jack Conan for the Lions No.8 jersey.
After a resurgent couple of months, it seems inconceivable that the Welshman, who is looking back to his best, will not be present when that first Test gets underway in Cape Town on July 24.
But there is a lot of noise about Simmonds. His name has been shouted from the rooftops of English rugby all season and, in fairness, he’s deserved the hype.
So how much of a threat is he to Faletau?
There’s a lot going for the two-time Lions tourist.
To begin with, while Simmonds has eight England caps to his name, the last one came in 2018 and since then he has not appeared in the Test arena.
The merits of his non-selection are for the England head coach to ponder but the fact remains that, for all his wonderful play in the Gallagher Premiership, he is unproven at international level.
Yes, he marauds around the fields of England, scoring almost at will but will he be able to do the same to the Springboks or will they gobble him up?
We don’t really know what he’ll be able to do on that stage. The uncertainty will go in Faletau’s favour because his quality on the very biggest stage is undeniable. He’s proven it over his 10-year international career.
That said, Gatland is astute and has not selected Simmonds lightly. The former Wales boss will make a call on the Englishman pretty quickly, one would suggest. A few weeks of training, working closely with Simmonds, and one or two warm-up matches will be enough for the Kiwi to learn whether or not he is a genuine contender to start in the Tests.
Faletau’s relationship with Gatland should also be factored in. The No.8 came through under Gatland and was consistently one of his best performers throughout the eight years they worked together.
The 90-cap 30-year-old played a key role in the successes Wales enjoyed during the Gatland era and that will count for a lot. If the Lions boss ever uttered a negative word about Faletau, it has not been documented.
What do the numbers say about all this?
In the Premiership, Simmonds just edges it and has played over twice as many minutes as his Welsh counterpart.
Even when both players’ impacts on a game are calculated relative to their time on the field, Simmonds still comes out on top. He has averaged more metres per carry, beaten defenders more frequently, lost the ball less and made a higher percentage of his tackles.
Although Faletau has made more breaks and produced more offloads.
However, when you look at the Welshman’s 2021 Six Nations statistics, he begins to fight back. He averaged almost two more metres per carry a Test level than Simmonds did at Premiership level and lost the ball just once in 363 minutes of top level rugby. Simmonds has lost the ball once every 81 minutes at domestic level so far.
Many other statistics are comparable in Faletau’s Six Nations campaign and Simmonds’ season in the Premiership, though the more experienced of the two should get more credit for the level at which he has operated.
So what does the boss himself make of it all?
When Gatland met the media on the day of the squad announcement, he fielded questions about Simmonds but was quick to mention the qualities of Faletau as well.
It’s clear he wants his loose forwards to be able to do more than just run hard and straight.
“Looking at South Africa, you have to have players, particularly in your forward pack, that just don’t put the ball under their arm and run straight,” he said. “You need players with footwork and Simmonds has that with pace.
“Faletau has definitely got footwork as well. It’s not about trying to match them physically. You need players that can do that but you’ve got to be able to bring some variation into your attacking options.”
Having worked with him for many years, Gatland won’t need to be told
that Faletau at his best is a player who blends that raw power with subtle footwork in the contact area and that is what makes him so effective.
Could this selection dilemma be eradicated by simply playing the pair of them together? Possibly.
Faletau has featured heavily at blindside flanker for his club side Bath recently – though his best position is undoubtedly No.8 – with Zach Mercer anchoring the scrum at The Rec.
That could open the door for Simmonds to start at No.8 with Faletau on the blindside. But it seems unlikely because it would make the back row look slightly unbalanced.
At Exeter, Simmonds has two big, uncompromising characters in Dave Ewers and Jacques Vermeulen on the flanks. They do the grunt work that allows Simmonds to flourish.
Would you ask Faletau to perform the Ewers role to give Simmonds the freedom to roam? Probably not because you lose too much of the Welshman’s greatness.
For that reason, it appears to be a straight shootout. One or the other.
When Gatland looks at his depth chart, he will see one player who has produced for him in two previous Lions series, multiple Six Nations campaigns and World Cups, and he will see one player who has had an outstanding season in the Premiership.
For that reason, heading into the tour, Gatland will surely have Faletau pencilled in at No.8 because he is proven at the very highest level and has consistently delivered for the Kiwi down the years.
It will be up to Simmonds to really push his case when the Lions assemble later this summer.