Sam Simmonds: ‘England? I didn’t imagine it even a couple of years ago’

Rapid rise of the Exeter Chiefs’ No8 from being on loan to Cornish Pirates to playing for England has surprised everybody, including himBy his own admission Sam Simmonds does not much enjoy big cities. In his home town of Teignmouth the nearest thing to rush-hour chaos is a bit of traffic on the bridge across the estuary to picturesque Shaldon. The last time he ventured into central London with his Exeter team-mate Henry Slade things did not go well: “We took the tube but we didn’t have a clue where we were going. We got off a couple of times and jumped back on what we thought was the right tr…