Sam Simmonds: Exeter back-row targets regular England place after autumn debut

Exeter Chiefs back-row Sam Simmonds wants to establish himself as a regular member of the England team.

The 23-year-old was a late call-up by head coach Eddie Jones for the first autumn Test against Argentina but ended up playing in all three internationals.

"This is just the start now. Once you've made your debut you don't want to just stop at having one, two or three games," Simmonds told BBC Sport.

"You want to push on and grow as a player and make yourself better."

He continued: "Hopefully I can keep pushing on and improving to the Six Nations and the series in the summer and ultimately the World Cup in the future."

At the start of 2017, Simmonds was playing for Championship side Cornish Pirates in front of little over 1,100 people in a British and Irish Cup game - 10 months later he was facing Australia in front of 80,000 fans at Twickenham.

In between, he helped the Chiefs win the Premiership title - scoring the decisive try against Saracens that took Exeter to their second straight final.

"I've not really had time to reflect on it," he said.

"I don't think I'll be able to look back on it until the off-season when you finish your rugby. You don't have the time in the season because games come so quickly."

The fourth graduate of Exeter's academy to earn full England honours after Henry Slade, Luke Cowan-Dickie and Jack Nowell, Simmonds' combination of power and pace has lit up the Premiership.

He scored a try on his top-flight debut in February in a 35-35 draw with Wasps, the side Exeter would beat again on his Twickenham debut in May's Premiership final, and has not stopped crossing the whitewash since.

Ten more tries have followed in just 16 games, a statistic which meant there was little surprise when Eddie Jones added him to his squad for the autumn internationals.

Simmonds started at number eight against Samoa last week - but with Billy Vunipola being the number one choice when fit, where would he fit in to the England back row?

"The important thing won't be whether Sam's got six, seven or eight on his back, it'll be how he's used," said Exeter director of rugby Rob Baxter.

"Sam showed at the weekend he's got the attributes that work very well at international rugby and in the Premiership,

"If he breaks out into the open he can score tries from almost anywhere like a quick back can, so the important thing is not where he is on the side of the scrum or at number eight, that's irrelevant.

"For me it's how he gets used over the course of the game and how he gets on the ball."