Moon's moment to shine
By Mark Stevens
2/11/18
Having won England honours at Under-20, 18 and 16 level, many thought a full cap would elude the quiet man of the Exeter Chiefs squad.
Tomorrow, however, Ben Moon will get his moment in the spotlight when he lines-up as part of Eddie Jones’ match-day squad for their first test this Autumn against South Africa at Twickenham (3pm).
Part and parcel of the Devon club’s make-up for the past ten years, the 29-year-old forward will be one of five current Chiefs tasked with trying to down a vastly-improved Springboks outfit.
Moon has sampled the big-match atmosphere at HQ before, featuring in the last three Premiership Rugby finals for the Chiefs. This, however, he knows, will be a complete new ball game as he prepares to pull on the Red Rose jersey for the first time at senior level.
Drafted in initially to train with England following an injury to Mako Vunipola and the international retirement of Joe Marler back in September, Moon was then named in Jones’ training squad that headed to Portugal, before finally getting the nod for match-day earlier this week.
If he does feature off the bench tomorrow, most likely for club-mate Alec Hepburn, it will be just reward for a player who every day quietly goes about his business in an unassuming, yet highly professional manner.
"A guy who is more worthy of the honour you'll probably never find,” were the words of Exeter’s Director of Rugby, Rob Baxter following this week’s squad announcement.
However, rewind the clock back a few weeks to when Moon was initially summoned by Jones.The loosehead was, at the time, at a kids’ party and not in range on his phone as the England management team tried to contact him.
A combination of poor mobile phone reception in rural Devon and motorway traffic jams also combined to make his journey to England’s training camp unusually stressful.
“I was actually at a kids’ party and I had no signal,” said Moon, who made his senior debut for the Chiefs back in 2008 against Sedgley Park. “There was a bouncy castle there and I was having a great time. When I finally walked out my phone was going mad and there was an unfamiliar number on it. I thought: ‘Maybe Sladey isn’t taking the mick.’
“My wife was at a friend’s baby shower and she had no signal either so I couldn’t get hold of her. Maybe I should have sent a pigeon or something. It was half-two on a Sunday and some of the lads were already at the camp so it was a mad rush to find my boots and other bits and pieces. I was panicking.
“They told me not to worry but I got caught in traffic on the M5. I was sat there thinking: ‘Don’t be late.’ My phone battery was dying, my satnav was on my phone and I was thinking: ‘Oh, no, this is all going to go terribly wrong.’”
Happily he made it and his strength as a scrummager and line-out lifter – he competed in local young farmers’ tug-of-war events in his younger days – has rapidly been noted by his new teammates during the squad’s time in Portugal.
“I’ve always said he’s one of the most underrated players in our team,” his Exeter colleague Jack Nowell said. “If you speak to boys here like Kyle Sinckler, when they’ve scrummaged against him they say he’s one of the best they’ve come up against.”
High praise indeed for Moon, who is one of just three current Chiefs - the others being Gareth Steenson and Phil Dollman - who remain in place from the club’s distant days in the Championship.
Baxter has overseen the career of Moon first-hand and says that his call-up is fully merited based on some outstanding performances for the Devon club over the years.
"It tells the story of a guy who's played Premiership rugby in this country for years, European rugby for years and is on the brink of picking up an England cap," added Baxter.
"You compare that to some recent years of guys flying in from all over the country, suddenly ending up with one cap and then disappearing back to their clubs and you never see them again. I know which story I'd rather follow, and there's one that emotionally means a lot to me, and that's the Ben Moon story."
Now, though, it’s up to Moon to seize his prized opportunity.
“I’m 30 next year and you do wonder if your international window is slowly closing. But there are some players who start their international careers in their early 30s so you think: ‘Why not?’”
Eclipsing a powerful Springboks pack this weekend will be far from easy but England’s seasoned Devonian debutant will no doubt relish his belated day in the sun.