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Simon Zebo: Farrell's Ireland is more united than Schmidt's

Simon Zebo (Photo By Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile via Getty Images)

Simon Zebo was full praise for Andy Farrell’s Ireland in the wake of their comfortable 29-7 victory over Wales in the opening weekend of the Six Nations.

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The Munster winger, having featured for Ireland in the Autumn internationals, is not part of Farrell’s 2022 squad, but has commended the comradery within that dressing room in spite of his absence.

Zebo also previously let it be known that he thought Joe Schmidt’s tactics as Ireland coach were too conservative for his taste and that the squad was not selected on form.

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When speaking to Le French Rugby Podcast this week, Zebo said “I won’t bash on Joe or anything. Andy is really attack-minded. It’s a different style, a different coach, a different outlook on the game. He wants players to go out and express themselves. He wants the wingers to get their hands on the ball as much as possible and score tries.

“The atmosphere around camp is a lot more relaxed. The players are really enjoying each other’s company and that’s as important as playing well or training well. You can see there’s a strength in the bond in the players up there which wasn’t there in the past when I was up there.”

Directly after the Autumn Internationals, Peter O’Mahony admitted that the month had been the most enjoyable of his career and Zebo thinks that optimism will only benefit the national team.

“Everybody is itching to represent their country,” he said. “There’s huge competition for places which only bodes well for Irish rugby.”

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Changes in spirit and style have given Ireland a newfound edge which makes their upcoming matchup in Paris against pre-tournament favourites France all the more enticing.

“The culture that Farrell has brought in is attack minded,” Zebo said. “In the past we would have gone over to France and tried not to lose the game but now they will be certainly going out to win the game. We saw how well their attack clicked against Wales.”

One thing that hasn’t changed since Farrell replaced Schmidt is the crux of Ireland’s attack. Johnny Sexton is still the beating heart of the Irish back line but Montpellier head coach Philippe Saint Andre sees the flyhalf’s influence waning, claiming Ireland would be better without him. Zebo was quick to oppose this perspective.

“Johnny’s playing some of the best rugby he’s played through his career. He’s been a previous world player of the year, multiple champions cup winner and Six Nations Grand Slam winner. To say at his age now that he is playing some of the best rugby of his career shows a lot about the man and the player. I think the French would prefer if he wasn’t playing.”

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The speed at which Sexton was able to feed teammates suffocated the Welsh defence and Zebo thinks a similarly fast turnover of ball at the breakdown will help stifle the French.

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“We have plenty of big ball carriers, but not the same size as the French, so it’ll be really interesting to see who dominates the speed of the ruck. We have to keep the tempo high and make the conditions so tough that it’s harder for France to do the simple things well.

“The French crowd will play their part. When they get their tails up, that atmosphere is pretty electric. It’ll be a very tough game but the French didn’t look as impressive last week as they did over the past couple of months.”

Both Ireland and France remain unbeaten in 2022 and are considered the two front runners for the Six Nations trophy. With squad unity on his side, Farrell has every chance of leading the team to their first Grand Slam title since 2018.

“All the Irish players are firing at such a high level,” Zebo said. “It doesn’t seem to matter who you put in front of this team, they’re looking really sharp. Even at the Stade de France I think we have a slight edge.”

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Oh no, not him again? 2 hours ago
England internationals disagree on final play execution vs All Blacks

Okay, so we blew it big time on Saturday. So rather than repeating what most people have all ready said, what do I want to see from Borthwick going forward?


Let's keep Marcus Smith on the pitch if he's fit and playing well. I was really pleased with his goal kicking. It used to be his weakness. I feel sympathy for George Ford who hadn't kicked all match and then had a kick to win the game. You hear pundits and commentators commend kickers who have come off the bench and pulled that off. Its not easy. If Steve B continues to substitute players with no clear reason then he is going to get criticised.


On paper I thought England would beat NZ if they played to their potential and didn't show NZ too much respect. Okay, the off the ball tackles certainly stopped England scoring tries, but I would have liked to see more smashing over gainlines and less kicking for position. Yes, I also know it's the Springbok endorsed world cup double winning formula but the Kiwi defence isn't the Bok defence, is it. If you have the power to put Smith on the front foot then why muzzle him? I guess what I'm saying is back, yourself. Why give the momentum to a team like NZ? Why feed the beast? Don't give the ball to NZ. Well d'uh.


Our scrum is a long term weakness. If you are going to play Itoje then he needs an ogre next door and a decent front row. Where is our third world class lock? Where are are realible front row bench replacements? The England scrum has been flakey for a while now. It blows hot and cold. Our front five bench is not world class.


On the positive side I love our starting backrow right now. I'd like to see them stick together through to the next world cup.


Anyway, there is always another Saturday.

7 Go to comments
C
CO 2 hours ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

Robertson is more a manager of coaches than a coach so it comes down to intent of outcomes at a high level. I like his intent, I like the fact his Allblacks are really driving the outcomes however as he's pointed out the high error rates are not test level and their control of the game is driving both wins and losses. England didn't have to play a lot of rugby, they made far fewer mistakes and were extremely unlucky not to win.


In fact the English team were very early in their season and should've been comfortably beaten by an Allblacks team that had played multiple tests together.


Razor has himself recognised that to be the best they'll have to sort out the crisis levels of mistakes that have really increased since the first two tests against England.


Early tackles were a classic example of hyper enthusiasm to not give an inch, that passion that Razor has achieved is going to be formidable once the unforced errors are eliminated.


That's his secret, he's already rebuilt the passion and that's the most important aspect, its inevitable that he'll now eradicate the unforced errors. When that happens a fellow tier one nation is going to get thrashed. I don't think it will be until 2025 though.


The Allblacks will lose both tests against Ireland and France if they play high error rates rugby like they did against England.


To get the unforced errors under control he's going to be needing to handover the number eight role to Sititi and reset expectations of what loose forwards do. Establish a clear distinction with a large, swarthy lineout jumper at six that is a feared runner and dominant tackler and a turnover specialist at seven that is abrasive in contact. He'll then need to build depth behind the three starters and ruthlessly select for that group to be peaking in 2027 in hit Australian conditions on firm, dry grounds.


It's going to help him that Savea is shifting to the worst super rugby franchise where he's going to struggle behind a beaten pack every week.


The under performing loose forward trio is the key driver of the high error rates and unacceptable turn overs due to awol link work. Sititi is looking like he's superman compared to his openside and eight.


At this late stage in the season they shouldn't be operating with just the one outstanding loose forward out of four selected for the English test. That's an abject failure but I think Robertson's sacrificing link quality on purpose to build passion amongst the junior Allblacks as they see the reverential treatment the old warhorses are receiving for their long term hard graft.


It's unfortunately losing test matches and making what should be comfortable wins into nail biters but it's early in the world cup cycle so perhaps it's a sacrifice worth making.


However if this was F1 then Sam Cane would be Riccardo and Ardie would be heading into Perez territory so the loose forwards desperately need revitalisation through a rebuild over the next season to complement the formidable tight five.

28 Go to comments
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