Watching Leicester Tigers’ victory over Gloucester the other weekend, I was struck by a man-of-the-match performance by centre Matt Smith. The 31-year old, one-club stalwart was immaculate; he organised the backline, made 14 tackles himself, and delivered the kind of unselfish performance that has been typical of his career. His work allowed the supposed stars of the backline – guys like George Ford, Matt Toomua, Telusa Veianu, Jonny May and Nick Malouf – the space and time to put Gloucester to the sword in the first 30 minutes.

Matt Smith’s career has not quite delivered the prestige of his colleagues in the backs – a solitary appearance for the England Saxons, the pinnacle of his recognition outside the Tigers. In the weeks after the Tigers’ recent run of victories, the official social media accounts were full of clips of bone-shaking hits by Toomua, or the dancing feet of Veianu and the electric pace of May. Smith may not generate the clickbait highlights, however, over the past 11 years, and 200-plus appearances, you could argue there has been no-one more important, and no one more devoted, to the East-Midlands club.

I would say it is no coincidence that Leicester’s backs have been playing some brilliant rugby since Smith has been occupying the 13 shirt on a regular basis. It may seen a leap to mention the Tiger in the same breath as another Smith – Conrad – but he is filling a similar role for Leicester that C. Smith did for the All Blacks. He is the glue which knit the group of super-stars into a cohesive unit. He may lack ‘ol snake hips elusive poise and eye for a break, but Matt’s teammates know his value.

There are players like Smith all over the Premiership. They may not receive the column inches and universal acclaim like some, but they are worth their weight in gold to the teams they represent week in, week out.

Chris Pennell of Worcester Warriors is another of those players. He probably has the shortest international rugby career in history (as far as my research can tell), his solitary England cap coming in the 79th minute of the first test of England’s 2014 tour of New Zealand – but as another one-club man, Pennell has been a brilliant player for Worcester since his debut in 2007.

Prior to that England call up, Pennell had been in astonishing form. I remember watching the Warriors play Leicester and thinking Pennell was trying to win the game single-handedly for them. It was a mark of his quality that he nearly succeeded.

What is even more admirable about Pennell is he followed relegated Worcester down to the Championship after having just made that international debut. Although Stuart Lancaster and the England coaches indicated at the time they would continue to monitor Pennell, despite playing in the second tier (although I have my doubts about that, given international coaches often hold not playing in the Champions Cup against a player), he never earned a recall – although injury played a part. This was the year before the World Cup and there were certainly no shortage of suitors for Pennell among the top clubs. For a player on the fringes of the international setup to sacrifice his personal career and miss out on potentially being part of a World Cup is as surprising as it is noble.

Pennell was right back to his best last weekend – a rare shining light for Worcester so far this season. He is a wonderful player to watch and rightly appreciated by his club’s supporters – but you can’t help think he had more to offer at the highest level.

That Exeter are now Premiership champions and that Phil Dollman’s class is not more widely recognised is a sad state of affairs. Unlike Smith and Pennell, Dollman may not have been a one-club player (he started his career with Newport Gwent Dragons), but he is still a long-standing servant for the Chiefs – clocking up 150 appearances over 8 years since joining them in the Championship.

Dollman is a hugely versatile player – slotting in with ease at wing, fullback or in the centres. He (alongside Ian Whitten, another under-appreciated player) is the core of Exeter’s backline and has been essential to their tilt at the title – he has filled in wherever needed, steering them through promotion to the Premiership, those first forays into European rugby, and culminating in that victory over Wasps at Twickenham in May this year.

There Dollman lined up opposite Willie le Roux, a unanimously agreed world-class fullback, yet it was Dollman who came out on top: Dollman who scored the try, Dollman who ended with a Premiership winner’s medal.

He earned a surprising call up to the Welsh squad after the season ended for the tests against Tonga and Samoa. At the age of 32, he is hardly one for the future but it was a deserved reward for a wonderful player in the form of his career.

Who are your club’s unsung heroes that deserves greater recognition?

By Henry Ker