No divided loyalties for Irish star Zebo

– The French rugby team still have the ability to strike fear into their opponents, Irish wing Simon Zebo (left) admitted ahead of their much-anticipated Six Nations clash today.

Zebo, born in Ireland to an Irish mother and a French father hailing from the Caribbean island of Martinique, warned that should the French side turn up in a positive frame of mind then it could make for a helter-skelter game.

“I still think there is a bit of a fear factor around playing France because if they show up and turn the switch on, which they can do,

Dublin

they can beat anyone and cause havoc against any defence so, yeah, the fear factor is definitely still there,” said the 26-year-old Zebo, who has only faced France once before in his previous 30 Test appearances.

“But if we focus on ourselves and give our best performance, I think we’ve shown against Australia, New Zealand and South Africa and France in the past, we can stick it with any team.”

Zebo, whose father was a topclass 800 metres runner and would have competed for France at the 1976 Olympics but for breaking his leg during his military service, admits there will be some blue shirts hanging in his house’s cupboards this weekend as his French part of the family come over.

However, he insists there are no divided loyalties on his part and is clear about which of the games in the Six Nations counts for him the most, being an Irishman.

“England would be, there’s a big history being Irish,” said Zebo.

“For me personally with the family side of things, it would be a big game, playing the French.”

Zebo has scored just one of his seven Test tries in the Six Nations. –

Heinz Schenk

Siya Kolisi’s appointment as the Stormers’ captain for this year’s Super Rugby campaign is bound to divide opinion. And one probably shouldn’t be surprised.

The 25-year-old flanker isn’t an established player as some might think.

Kolisi has been around since 2012 in Super Rugby.

Ironically, that maiden campaign still represents the most minutes he’s played in a single season of Super Rugby.

That means, over the next few seasons, he actually spent less time on the field. There are two reasons for that. Firstly, Kolisi is injury-prone and some absences at vital stages of certain seasons have certainly hampered his progress.

More importantly, the man from Zwide in the Eastern Cape has been the victim of coaches who don’t quite know what his best position is.

Kolisi’s physical attributes are impressive but also awkward.

At 1.88m and 105kg, he’s not quite mobile enough to be a nippy, fetcher-type flank at No 6.

But when he’s been switched to the No 7 jersey as a ball-carrier, Kolisi has also been inconsistent.

Some critics also believe he goes missing when the going gets tight.

Here’s the thing though: it’s exactly this indecision that means he probably hasn’t reached his full potential yet.

Kolisi seems to be a classic case of a player who needs to be given an extended run in one position.

That’s why Robbie Fleck, the Stormers’ head coach, has made a bold decision to give Kolisi the captain’s armband.

It’s a way of “forcing” himself and the rest of his coaching staff to pick Kolisi in one position and allowing him to grow.

Given his title, the Capetonians now can’t switch him again so easily. Now, it’s important to also mention that captaincy doesn’t absolve Kolisi from poor form.

Instead, it’s an opportunity to settle the debate over him once and for all.

Maybe Kolisi will excel because he now has the security of focusing on one playing position.

Or maybe he won’t quite cut the mustard.

Either way, it’s about an extended and fair opportunity to gauge how good Kolisi really is.

And in the end, that’s what it’s about.

Also, Kolisi mentioned previously how keen he would be to be a leader.

Some players truly do flourish with extra responsibility. Hopefully he’s one of them. See Kolisi profile on Page 3.