Rob Simmons (born 19 April 1989 in

Theodore, Queensland Theodore is a rural town and locality in the Shire of Banana, Queensland, Australia. In the the locality of Theodore had a population of 438 people. It was established in the 1920s as part of Queensland Premier Ted Theodore's ambitious Dawson ...

) is an Australian

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

footballer. He currently plays for the

London Irish London Irish RFC is a professional rugby union club which competes in the Premiership, the top division of English rugby union. The club has also competed in the Anglo-Welsh Cup, the European Champions Cup and European Challenge Cup. While ...

in The Premiership in England and represented Australia in international fixtures. His position is lock but he can also play in the backrow.

Early life

Simmons was born in Theodore, Queensland. He attended

The Southport School , motto_translation = Let him who deserves the palm of victory bear it. , established = , type = Independent early learning, primary and secondary day and boarding school , denomination = Anglican , headmaster = Andrew Hawkins , fou ...

, on the

Gold Coast Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana: ** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642) ** Dutch G ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

, and played for the

Australian Schoolboys The Australian Schoolboys refer to junior teams that represent Australia in various sports. The name is mainly used in rugby league, rugby union and baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players ...

team in 2006. Simmons was selected for the Australian U19s representative side in 2007. He played for the Australian Under 20 side at the 2008 IRB Junior World Cup in Wales.

Career

In 2007, Simmons played for the

East Coast Aces Queensland Country is an Australian rugby union football team that competes in the National Rugby Championship (NRC). The team is one of two Queensland sides in the competition, the other being . Queensland Country is organised and managed by t ...

in the inaugural

Australian Rugby Championship The Australian Rugby Championship, often abbreviated to the ARC and also known as the Mazda Australian Rugby Championship for sponsorship purposes, is a now-defunct domestic professional men's rugby union football competition in Australia, which ...

. He made his Super Rugby debut for the Queensland Reds in South Africa off the bench against the Bulls at the beginning of the 2009 season. Simmons made his test rugby debut for Australia in 2010, playing against South Africa in Brisbane. Simmons scored with a 2nd minute intercept try in Australia's Rugby World Cup 2015 Semi-final win over Argentina. This was the fastest try of the 2015 Rugby World Cup. On 16 January 2015, Simmons, along with teammate

Karmichael Hunt Karmichael Neil Matthew Hunt (born 17 November 1986) is a former multi-code international rugby league footballer who last played for the Brisbane Broncos in the NRL. Having played professional rugby league, rugby union and Australian rules ...

, were appointed vice-captains of the Queensland Reds. In late 2017, Rob Simmons was axed by the

Queensland Reds The Queensland Reds is the rugby union team for the Australian state of Queensland that competes in the Southern Hemisphere's Super Rugby competition. Prior to 1996, they were a representative team selected from the rugby union club competitions ...

after playing almost ten years of rugby in

. In early 2018, Simmons left the

and joined fellow Australian Super Rugby team, the New South Wales Waratahs. In July 2020, it was announced that Simmons would join English

Premiership Rugby Premiership Rugby, officially known as Gallagher Premiership Rugby, or the Gallagher Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is an English professional rugby union competition. The Premiership has consisted of thirteen clubs since 2021, and is the ...

side

ahead of the 2020–21 season.

References

External links

Profile
at Rugby.com.au
Reds Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Simmons, Rob 1989 births Australian rugby union players Australia international rugby union players Australian expatriate sportspeople in England Queensland Reds players Rugby union locks Living people People educated at the Southport School Sportspeople from the Gold Coast, Queensland Rugby union players from Queensland