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Simon Zebo starts at fullback for Top14 debut against Toulon

And there’s much more Irish interest in France with Paul O’Connell and Mike Prendergast coaching Stade Francais.

RACING COACHES LAURENT Labit and Laurent Travers have selected ex-Munster and Ireland star Simon Zebo to start at fullback for their To14 opener away to Toulon tomorrow (kick-off 19.45).

Zebo will line up as part of an exciting back-line as Joe Rokocoko and Juan Imhoff start on the wings and Scotland international Finn Russell also making his Top14 debut at 10, with Fiji star Ben Volavola backing him up among the replacements.

Tipperary man Donnacha Ryan will pack down in the engine room alongside Boris Palu.

Hosts Toulon meanwhile, have given Wales scrum-half Rhys Webb his competition debut.

Earlier tomorrow, Paul O’Connell will hope his Stade Francais forwards can power the Paris club to victory over Perpignan, who will be steered by Paddy Jackson.

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    Mute Luke walkee
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    Aug 24th 2018, 7:19 PM

    Best of luck to him, hope he has a great season.

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    Mute Andrew Hurley
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    Aug 24th 2018, 7:24 PM

    I wonder where he’ll fit in over time as Thomas and Imhoff shd be starting wings.

    Just a clarification as it’s miseported constantly – Zebo doesn’t speak French. It’s not a big deal but people are under the opposite impression, and this was a factor in him moving to France. Midi Okympique had an interview with him this week asked him why he wouldnt do it in french. (To be clear, this is not having a go before any Munster fans go off on one. If anyone interested happy to post link)

    Interesting to see POC at Stade. I go to a lot of their matches. He has some interesting players to work with but the squad uneven (3 french locks, front row now not amazing, 3 big name fly halves, scrum half very light, 3 very good centres but light on wing). POC hasn’t really had a clear direction since he retired so hopefully he settles down & develops at Stade.

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    Mute Joe Vlogs
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    Aug 24th 2018, 7:38 PM

    @Andrew Hurley: There are probably plenty of games he will start during the international windows and away games, but I can’t see either him or Russel being in starting fifteen come the big matches if they have all their internationals available.
    I don’t follow Racing too closely, but besides Machenaud who I feel is currently up there with the best scrumhalves in the world, Teddy Iribaren seemed to be relatively decent on my few viewings of him. Is the gulf between Machenaud and the rest very big in your opinion?

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    Mute Eddie Hekenui
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    Aug 24th 2018, 7:39 PM

    @Andrew Hurley: He didn’t say he doesn’t speak French. He said it’s not good enough yet for him to do a full interview in French for a French paper which is understandable. He said he has a good base which allows him to speak to teammates and coaches and is looking to improve. Can’t imagine he’s had much chance to practice in the Munster dressing room through the years. Part of his reason for moving was to embrace that side of his heritage.

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    Mute The Irish Pain
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    Aug 24th 2018, 7:45 PM

    @Andrew Hurley: he’ll fit in at 15 I’d imagine…

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    Mute Andrew Hurley
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    Aug 24th 2018, 8:00 PM

    @Eddie Hekenui: Eddie, he did say he speaks french: https://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/rugby/french-connection-wont-distract-simon-zebo-344057.html

    He says here with two weeks in France he’d speak fluently https://www.sport24.co.za/Rugby/WorldCup/Zebo-up-for-French-battle-20151007

    Look at Emery at Arsenal – he hadn’t one word of english but does all his press conferences in English (& it’s not too bad).

    It’s not a big deal but there has been a lot of nonsense about this.

    I hope he makes an effort to speak French (I assume he will).

    Ryan started from zéro but seemed to be making a décent effort from what I saw last year.

    The Toulon players make no effort whatsoever (Giteau after 3/4 years couldn’t order a sandwich) apart from Wilkinson whose French wasn’t bad at the end.

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    Mute Eddie Hekenui
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    Aug 24th 2018, 8:11 PM

    @Andrew Hurley: I never denied he said he spoke French. I disputed you saying he gave an interview where he said doesn’t speak French. He never said that. He just said he wasn’t comfortable giving an interview in French yet because he didn’t want their to be confusion between what he wanted to say and what he actually said. In the interview he says he speaks to the coaches and players in French.

    Seeing the way you misrepresented the quote in the second link you posted I’m guessing this wasn’t an honest mistake.

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    Mute Eddie Hekenui
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    Aug 24th 2018, 8:13 PM

    @Andrew Hurley: Also I saw plenty of interviews with Giteau speaking French so not sure where you got that one from either

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    Mute Johnny 5
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    Aug 24th 2018, 8:24 PM

    @Andrew Hurley: surely he slots in as starting 15? I imagine that on form he is ahead of Dulin in the pecking order.

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    Mute Andrew Hurley
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    Aug 24th 2018, 8:32 PM

    @Eddie Hekenui: I’m not misrepresenting anything – if one can speak French, one can give an interview in French. Otherwise, it means one can only speak a little bit (which is fine). I can get by in Italian for a few weeks on holidays – I can’t say ‘I speak Italian’ as it’s simply not true! I’m not trying to take anything out of context but show the nonsense spoken by the media & Zebo himself about the fact he speaks french (‘Two weeks and I’ll be fluent’!!)

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    Mute Eddie Hekenui
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    Aug 24th 2018, 8:43 PM

    @Andrew Hurley: I’m sure he could give in an interview in French if required he just didn’t want to because he wanted to be clear in what he said and get his point across. There’s a big difference between speaking French conversationally or in a press conference and doing an in depth interview in a foreign tongue with a national paper. You are totally taking what he said out of context to have a go at Zebo which is clear now from your latest responce. And despite you “quoting” him that’s not what he said in that other interview you linked to. He said ‘a couple of weeks and I’d be pretty fluent’ and clearly said as a bit of joke and totally in keeping with his confident character. It was hardly a statement of fact but again you’re knowingly taking it out of context to have a go at him.

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    Mute Johnny 5
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    Aug 24th 2018, 8:44 PM

    @Andrew Hurley: Given how vicious the press is nowadays, and how cautious players are about speaking to them, it’s not surprising a player wouldn’t open himself to the chance of being misunderstood. Mauricio Pochettino was going around with a translator for over year even though he was dealing with his players in English. It’s just an easily avoidable risk

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    Mute TheHeathen
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    Aug 24th 2018, 8:51 PM

    @Andrew Hurley: One should throw away one’s shovel.

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    Mute st
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    Aug 24th 2018, 9:34 PM

    @Andrew Hurley: shoot me

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    Mute Paddy Murphy
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    Aug 25th 2018, 6:20 AM

    @Eddie Hekenui: you are an absolute blouse. Why do you care so much. He’s gone, it’s time to move on.

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    Mute Eddie Hekenui
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    Aug 25th 2018, 12:03 PM

    @Martin Quinn: No Martin he can say what he likes, good or bad, as long as he’s not knowingly lying to have a go at a player.

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    Mute Eddie Hekenui
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    Aug 28th 2018, 7:55 PM

    @Martin Quinn: He was 100% lying and that’s beyond question. His original comment said that Zebo gave an interview in which he said he didn’t speak French. Well I’d also read that article and Zebo never said that. He was twisting what Zebo said to have a go at him in the hopes that no one else had read the article.

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    Mute TheHeathen
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    Aug 24th 2018, 7:21 PM

    Finn Russell… I just don’t get it.

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    Mute Rochelle
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    Aug 24th 2018, 8:07 PM

    @TheHeathen: He’s a bit inconsistent but a fantastic operator at his best and he’s still only 25.

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    Mute TheHeathen
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    Aug 24th 2018, 8:19 PM

    @Rochelle: Brain farts every match. Suits France I suppose.

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    Mute Ruairi O'Bric
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    Aug 25th 2018, 12:33 AM

    If zebo speaks fluent French or not it doesn’t matter, cause he is gonna be scoring try’s for fun in the racing jersey this season. The speed of surface in their home pitch is going to be a massive advantage for him, and the size of some forwards in the French game will allow him to burn plenty of players in broken play. He is a good shout for top try scorer in the League.

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