There are plenty of reasons why Sam Simmonds will soon be ruling himself out of contention for England, having fought for so long to convince Eddie Jones he was worth another shot, but the No 8 has wanderlust.
The financial benefits of a move to Montpellier next season are obvious, particularly at a time when the salary cap makes it harder for clubs to justify giving big contracts to England internationals. Simmonds has a young family and his determination to provide for them is a theme to which he frequently returns – even if his partner’s mother took a while to come around to the idea of the move to the south of France. The demises of Wasps and Worcester only heighten the sense of uncertainty as to what the future holds.
