FOR MANY, SIMON Zebo has come to represent that which Ireland are not.
An instinctive, creative player who relishes playing ‘heads-up’ rugby, whereby structure falls away and the task is to find and exploit space. He loves taking defenders on, embraces risk and takes sheer delight in expressing himself on the pitch.
A smile is never far from Zebo's face. Dan Sheridan / INPHO
Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
Ask most commentators if Ireland reflect any of those attributes and the response will be negative. Indeed, the perception is that Zebo’s natural inclinations are dulled when he wears the green of Ireland, that rucking is more important that invention under Joe Schmidt.
Reality and perception can be so hard to separate when it comes to this Ireland team. The performance against Wales was certainly a strong attacking one, featuring clever set-piece strikes, good decision-making in phase play and a superb linebreak from Zebo himself on kick return.
But a week later Ireland lost to France in atrocious weather conditions, their attacking game suffering from a lack of execution. As a result, the old debate about Schmidt limiting his players’ attacking scope has reared its head.
Zebo, like so many of his teammates, says that is not the case.
If it’s on you’re allowed to have a go and I think some players go with that a lot and some players play to their own strengths and do otherwise, but collectively we’re given licence to go out and play.
“I don’t think you’d see Mike Ross throwing skip passes or anything, but at the same time we’re given licence to play heads-up rugby and hopefully we do that this weekend because that’s the way it looks like the game’s going and the best teams are playing the best rugby.”
Zebo is not the first player to defend Schmidt and Ireland this way, of course. The stats continue to tell us that the offload is a rarity for this team, so what of that element of their attack?
The Munster man is one of the few Irish players who appears totally comfortable in attempting to offload the ball out of contact, though he understands the risk that goes with doing go.
Rob Kearney threw one in Paris after making a half-break of the French defensive line off a class Schmidt power play, but the ball found a player in blue.
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Zebo is set to feature off the bench in London. Dan Sheridan / INPHO
Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
“There has to be a degree of it being on and a lot of that doesn’t just come down to the person offloading the ball,” says Zebo of the offload.
“It comes down to the support lines and listening to your teammates, so you can trust that he will show up on your inside shoulder or whatever, who is going to hit the ruck. There hopefully is not a fear factor within the players.
“Offloads and the expansion of the game is something we need to try to get better at because that is how the best teams in the world are playing now, and get a lot of success from. We want to be up there competing with the two or three best sides in the world.”
So few are Ireland’s offloads that each successful and unsuccessful effort in recent seasons is not too difficult to remember.
During the 2014 November Test series, Zebo attempted one against Australia and was picked off. Bernard Foley slapped the ball down and the Wallabies scored directly from the turnover. Was Zebo eaten alive for that ambitious attempt?
It’s the risk involved and I’m happy to take those risks. It’s part of my game,” says Zebo.
“I get excited at those opportunities and those possibilities, because if you don’t buy a ticket you can’t win the lotto. There’s no point playing conservatively and going into your shells, that’s my opinion.
“I didn’t get f’d out of it so I’m happy to continue playing that way.”
The perception with Ireland, certainly among former players like Brian O’Driscoll, is that the players are often worried about Monday morning’s video review even while they are attempting to make decisions on the pitch.
Should I offload here? Is this pass on? Will Joe kill me on the video if it fails?
Zebo says it’s important that players don’t think that way.
Zebo with Cian Healy at Carton House. Dan Sheridan / INPHO
Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
“It’s hugely important because you have to live in the game, be in the game and see what’s in front of you. Otherwise, if you’re thinking about meetings after the game, that does no good for any player, no good for the team because players are playing with fear and it’s just a bad environment to play in.
“I don’t think we suffer from that. Players are willing to try things and hopefully that continues and we score a few tries this week.”
As for his own individual attacking intentions and desires, Zebo is likely to bring them off the bench at Twickenham as he provides back-up to the starting XV. He was happy with his performance against Wales on the opening weekend of the championship, before missing out on the French game with a knee injury.
The 25-year-old is “probably leaning towards number 15 the more I play there” in terms of his preferred position and he certainly allows Ireland to function differently when employed at fullback.
One of the keys is his ability to be a playmaking influence at first or second receiver, inserting himself into the line to take some of the weight off Johnny Sexton’s shoulders.
I personally love going into first receiver and setting up tries if at all possible and setting up moves,” says Zebo. “It’s different with Johnny in that he loves getting on the ball as well.
“He, umm, I don’t know how to say it…”
He doesn’t like to share, it’s suggested.
“…. No, no, he does! But he knows that he always tends to have a positive impact on the team when he’s in at first receiver, so we just let him do that as much as possible because he’s only going to help us.
“But if he does get under pressure and I’m on the pitch with him I’m only too happy to get in and try and playmake as well.”
Let the boy play.
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Simon Zebo: 'If you don’t buy a ticket you can’t win the Lotto'
FOR MANY, SIMON Zebo has come to represent that which Ireland are not.
An instinctive, creative player who relishes playing ‘heads-up’ rugby, whereby structure falls away and the task is to find and exploit space. He loves taking defenders on, embraces risk and takes sheer delight in expressing himself on the pitch.
Ask most commentators if Ireland reflect any of those attributes and the response will be negative. Indeed, the perception is that Zebo’s natural inclinations are dulled when he wears the green of Ireland, that rucking is more important that invention under Joe Schmidt.
Reality and perception can be so hard to separate when it comes to this Ireland team. The performance against Wales was certainly a strong attacking one, featuring clever set-piece strikes, good decision-making in phase play and a superb linebreak from Zebo himself on kick return.
But a week later Ireland lost to France in atrocious weather conditions, their attacking game suffering from a lack of execution. As a result, the old debate about Schmidt limiting his players’ attacking scope has reared its head.
Zebo, like so many of his teammates, says that is not the case.
“I don’t think you’d see Mike Ross throwing skip passes or anything, but at the same time we’re given licence to play heads-up rugby and hopefully we do that this weekend because that’s the way it looks like the game’s going and the best teams are playing the best rugby.”
Zebo is not the first player to defend Schmidt and Ireland this way, of course. The stats continue to tell us that the offload is a rarity for this team, so what of that element of their attack?
The Munster man is one of the few Irish players who appears totally comfortable in attempting to offload the ball out of contact, though he understands the risk that goes with doing go.
Rob Kearney threw one in Paris after making a half-break of the French defensive line off a class Schmidt power play, but the ball found a player in blue.
“There has to be a degree of it being on and a lot of that doesn’t just come down to the person offloading the ball,” says Zebo of the offload.
“It comes down to the support lines and listening to your teammates, so you can trust that he will show up on your inside shoulder or whatever, who is going to hit the ruck. There hopefully is not a fear factor within the players.
“Offloads and the expansion of the game is something we need to try to get better at because that is how the best teams in the world are playing now, and get a lot of success from. We want to be up there competing with the two or three best sides in the world.”
So few are Ireland’s offloads that each successful and unsuccessful effort in recent seasons is not too difficult to remember.
During the 2014 November Test series, Zebo attempted one against Australia and was picked off. Bernard Foley slapped the ball down and the Wallabies scored directly from the turnover. Was Zebo eaten alive for that ambitious attempt?
“I get excited at those opportunities and those possibilities, because if you don’t buy a ticket you can’t win the lotto. There’s no point playing conservatively and going into your shells, that’s my opinion.
“I didn’t get f’d out of it so I’m happy to continue playing that way.”
The perception with Ireland, certainly among former players like Brian O’Driscoll, is that the players are often worried about Monday morning’s video review even while they are attempting to make decisions on the pitch.
Should I offload here? Is this pass on? Will Joe kill me on the video if it fails?
Zebo says it’s important that players don’t think that way.
“It’s hugely important because you have to live in the game, be in the game and see what’s in front of you. Otherwise, if you’re thinking about meetings after the game, that does no good for any player, no good for the team because players are playing with fear and it’s just a bad environment to play in.
“I don’t think we suffer from that. Players are willing to try things and hopefully that continues and we score a few tries this week.”
As for his own individual attacking intentions and desires, Zebo is likely to bring them off the bench at Twickenham as he provides back-up to the starting XV. He was happy with his performance against Wales on the opening weekend of the championship, before missing out on the French game with a knee injury.
The 25-year-old is “probably leaning towards number 15 the more I play there” in terms of his preferred position and he certainly allows Ireland to function differently when employed at fullback.
One of the keys is his ability to be a playmaking influence at first or second receiver, inserting himself into the line to take some of the weight off Johnny Sexton’s shoulders.
“He, umm, I don’t know how to say it…”
He doesn’t like to share, it’s suggested.
“…. No, no, he does! But he knows that he always tends to have a positive impact on the team when he’s in at first receiver, so we just let him do that as much as possible because he’s only going to help us.
“But if he does get under pressure and I’m on the pitch with him I’m only too happy to get in and try and playmake as well.”
Let the boy play.
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