New dad Sam Simmonds revels in return of Exeter fans as Lions stars impress at Sandy Park

Sam Simmonds explained what a virtually full Sandy Park meant to him after a convincing victory over Worcester at the end of a dream week for him personally.

The 26-year-old back rower celebrated becoming a dad seven days before – when his partner Emily gave birth to baby girl Billie – with two tries on his return to action after touring South Africa with the British and Irish Lions in the summer. It was a perfect way to begin the defence of his Premiership Top Try Scorer of the Season crown as the Chiefs firmly dispelled any early-season doubts about them with a very impressive all-round display.

“This is my first time being in front of a full crowd since Covid began, and to be playing in front of 12,500 Chiefs fans is amazing and that just helps us and our performance when it gets tough,” explained the No 8, recently named in Eddie Jones’ England training squad. “And to be able to actually celebrate with people when you score is amazing, because it was tough without fans.”

Looking back on his time in South Africa, he commented: “It was one of the best experiences of my career, and it was a shame about the result in the last Test, but to gain new friends with people who you hadn’t met before and had only played against was a dream come true.”

Simmonds was one of three players the Chiefs were able to welcome back from Lions duty on Saturday, with Stuart Hogg returning the week before, and it is no coincidence that their return has seen Chiefs achieve back-to-back wins after losing their opening two games of the campaign.

“We needed a performance like this,” said Simmonds, who was joined on the try list by Facundo Cordero with two, Dave Ewers and brother Joe Simmonds. “Last time at home against Northampton, there were bits and pieces where we looked a bit like Exeter Chiefs, but it was not enough. It was more of a complete performance today, and hopefully the crowd saw that and they really got behind us, and if we believe we can go to places again this season, then hopefully they can believe it as well.”

There has been some tough talking at Sandy Park over the opening weeks of the season, and some of the senior players returning to action have had their say too.

“If you want to be a great team you have to be honest with yourselves and you have to drive the standards and it is not just for us boys coming back in, it is for those guys that have been playing over the last couple of weeks as well," explained Simmonds. “We want to be the best team in England and Europe, and if you don’t drive those standards you are not going to get great results. This week was better, last week against Sale was good as well, and we just want to push on now.”

Worcester head coach Jonathan Thomas said his side, who scored a late consolation try through Justin Clegg, are a work in progress and it will take time to bed in their summer signings.

“The game is about combinations and chemistry, time together and 15 players working as one, and we had lots of new partnerships out there today, and that was probably reflected in how we played," he said.

Report: Sam Simmonds stars with two tries on return as Exeter thrash Worcester

Exeter Chiefs 42 Worcester Warriors 5

Sam Simmonds kicked off the defence of his top Premiership try scorer crown with a brace as he returned to action after British and Irish Lions duty in style.

Simmonds celebrated becoming a new dad during the week by helping last season’s league runners-up to their first home win of the new campaign.

Luke Cowan-Dickie and Jonny Hill also played their first games of the season after returning from South Africa against a Worcester side who will have been disappointed by the size of their defeat.

Exeter head coach Ali Hepher said: "The Lions boys were a little bit rusty in certain areas but they will come back better and in a couple of weeks’ time we will probably see the best of them.

"It is pleasing they are up and running and it adds depth to our squad. We are pleased to let Sam loose on the field, you can see his pace and he creates so many opportunities for others and himself, and he is one of the best finishers out there."

Worcester head coach Jonathan Thomas felt the Warriors paid for not taking their chances early on.

"There were opportunities out there for us in the first 25 minutes, we had four red zone entries and didn’t get past one phase for one reason or another, and we had four line breaks where we dropped the ball or didn’t execute them, and their first two tries came from ill-discipline from us, which gave them territory and the game they want to play, with the pick and go from close to the line," he said.

"To win at Sandy Park, you have got to take your opportunities, you have got to play as a team and you have got to be relentless."

It took until the 22nd minute before the deadlock was broken, and it came in typical Chiefs style, with a pick-and-go from Dave Ewers after the referee had reversed a penalty and Henry Slade had kicked to the corner.

Slade slotted the conversion, and also added the extras to a second try 11 minutes later, when Simmonds scored from close range to make it 14-0.

With time up on the clock and awarded a penalty inside their own 22, many sides would have kicked the ball out of play and headed for the tunnel, but captain Slade had other ideas, and two kicks to touch later, Exeter had a 15-metre line-out, won by Hill, and Facundo Cordero cut a wonderful line to cross for their third try of the game, with Slade’s boot giving Exeter a 21-point interval lead.

Argentinean Cordero’s second of the game, four minutes after the break, provided the bonus point following a beautifully-crafted move, and Simmonds’ second from 20 metres out, after Slade had glided through the defence, killed the game off.

Joe Simmonds came off the bench to join his brother in the try-scoring stakes five minutes from time, before Justin Clegg put a minor blot on the Chiefs’ copybook with a consolation touchdown for Worcester in the final minute.

Match details

Exeter Chiefs: S Hogg (J Simmonds 56), F Cordero, H Slade (capt) (I Whitten 61), T Hendrickson, T O’Flaherty, H Skinner, J Maunder (S Hidalgo-Clyne 58), A Hepburn (B Keast 54), L Cowan-Dickie (J Innard 54), H Williams (J Iosefa-Scott 54), W Witty (S Skinner 56), J Hill, D Ewers, R Capstick, S Simmonds (C Tshiunza 71).

Worcester Warriors: J Shillcock, N Heward (H Doel 52), O Morris, O Lawrence, D Van Der Merwe (W Butler 66), B Searle, W Heinz (co-capt) (W Chudley 50), R Sutherland (E Waller 52), S Baldwin (co-capt) (N Annett 78), C Judge (J Tyack 57), A Kitchener, J Clegg, K Hatherell (S Lewis 28), M Kvesic, S Vailanu (J Batley 50).

Scoring sequence: 5-0 Ewers try, 7-0 Slade con, 12-0 S Simmonds try, 14-0 Slade con, 19-0 Cordero try, 21-0 Slade con, 26-0 Cordero try, 28-0 Slade con, 33-0 S Simmonds try, 35-0 Slade con, 40-0 J Simmonds try, 42-0 J Simmonds con, 42-5 Clegg try.

Referee: Tom Foley (RFU).

Attendance: 12,657.