Worth asking the question but Simon Zebo didn’t pause too long to consider it.
Zebo may have a Cork twang to his accent now but there was a time, years ago, when he dreamed of lining out alongside French flyers like Cedric Heymans, Yannick Jauzion and Vincent Clerc.
Zebo’s father, Arthur, hails from Martinique [a Caribbean island in French possession]. He has heaps of French relatives. He speaks the language. He insists he will play in France before he retires – “I could be 40 before I decide to go, you never know… Pro D2 or whatever.”
He has only played France once before in his Test career [2015’s Six Nations victory] and can’t wait to rip into Les Bleus at the Aviva Stadium. “We just need to make sure we get the win this weekend,” he declares.
Still, ask him if playing France means more to him than playing England and you’ll get a pretty straight response:
“I doubt it. England would be… there’s a big history being Irish.
“For me personally with the family side of things, it would be a big game, playing the French. I’m very lucky to get the opportunity to do so. It’s going to be a massive challenge for each game, especially with the three games we have left. We just need to make sure we get the win this weekend.”
Between the time of his birth, in 1990, and his Test debut, in June 2012, Ireland lost 23 of 28 games against France [winning four and drawing once]. He grew up at a time of French domination but has played a small part in Ireland turning those results on their head.
“In the past, there will have been a different expectation [about playing France].
“Our squad has come on in leaps and bounds. We know if we show up for 80 minutes we can compete with the best.
“I still think there is [still] a bit of a fear factor around playing France because if they show up and turn the switch on, which they can do, they can beat anyone and cause havoc against any defence so, yeah, the fear factor is definitely still there but if we focus on ourselves and give our best performance for 80 minutes… I think we’ve shown against Australia, New Zealand and South Africa and France in the past, we can stick it with any team.
“Hopefully we can give our best performance this weekend because we’ll need it.”
Ireland need the win and they need Zebo at his very best.
France first, then Wales and then, only then, can the focus turn to England.
