Rob Simmons resists European temptation to sign new Australian rugby deal
As Australian rugby prepares to lose well over 400 international caps to cashed-up European clubs, one veteran Wallaby has resisted a pay cheque to repay his state and country.
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A new lease of life at the NSW Waratahs and fatherhood have prompted top lock Rob Simmons to buck the trend of seasoned Wallabies heading abroad after the World Cup.
Simmons, 30, has instead signed a new two-year deal with the Waratahs and Rugby Australia to build on his 94 Tests and 145-game Super Rugby career.
It’s a significant plus for the next Waratahs coach, when he’s named, because he’ll have reliability in a key position from a player who lifted his game in Super Rugby.
“It would be silly to leave something I’m enjoying and every time I weighed up an overseas option it came back to that,” Simmons said at Wallabies’ camp in Brisbane.
“That’s how I feel about life on and off the field in Sydney because fatherhood has definitely freshened me up to play on too.”
Ironically, Simmons might not have made such a call but for the shock of being moved on by the Queensland Reds in 2017 after being a nine-season pillar.
“I didn’t know it at the time but the change of scenery has been the best thing for me and I’m doing it as a family with my wife Lucy and our one-year-old, Billy,” Simmons said.
His increased output at the Waratahs backed it up with more threatening runs, more tackles, offloading that he’d previously kept hidden and some nifty line-break assists.
Halfback Will Genia is the latest Wallaby to confirm he will be playing abroad next year along with David Pocock, Rory Arnold, Adam Coleman, Sefa Naivalu, Samu Kerevi, Nick Phipps and Sekope Kepu.
The pragmatic Simmons doesn’t feel he is missing out: “I’m in an exciting World Cup period for the Wallabies, you never know how contract cycles work out and I don’t feel like I’m missing out if I never play for a club overseas.”
Simmons is in camp with fellow locks Izack Rodda, Coleman and apprentice Harry Hockings while in-form Brumby Arnold joins in next week.
Ironing out the lineout glitches of last year’s failed Test run is a huge priority.
“Competing for a place at a third World Cup is a big drawcard for me and I do feel we have lots of healthy competition in the pack generally,” Simmons said.
“We found ourselves in some difficult situations lineout-wise last year but I’d like to think we’ll be better when we get back in those same scenarios this year.”
New Wallabies back coach Shaun Berne gave the latest indicator that James O’Connor will be a surprise face at training in the coming days now he’s agreed to a Rugby Australia deal to return from English club Sale.
“I’ve only seen him from afar but another talented player to add to the mix would be great,’ Berne said.
A multi-year deal will relieve some of the angst felt over inside centre at the Reds since Kerevi (Suntory, Japan) and Duncan Paia’aua (Toulon, France) decided to move on.
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