Simon Zebo part of a new generation of ‘jokers in the pack’ fullbacks

Joe Schmidt may well recall Cian Healy and perhaps Eoin Reddan too this week, but he has been saved one of the most potentially difficult calls of his reign in whether or not to recall the more experienced man at fullback.

Rob Kearney has been a key figure in Ireland's relatively golden era. He started all five of Ireland's games in the 2009 Grand Slam, and played every minute of Ireland's 2014 and 2015 back-to-back Six Nations successes.

Aside from his wonderful ability in the air, physicality in contact and positional play, he is a highly valued and experienced member of the squad. When fit, he has always been Schmidt’s go-to number 15, starting there in 22 of the coach’s 31-match tenure to date.

Kearney's problem this season has been those niggly lower back-hamstring issues that have cropped up over the years. This in turn has led to Simon Zebo making all six of his starts for Ireland at fullback this season, and now, for sure, his seventh this coming Saturday.

Given this, the widespread calls for Jared Payne to be given a run at fullback last Saturday – in part to accommodate another outing for the more youthful Stuart McCloskey-Robbie Henshaw partnership – was somewhat surprising.

It's not as if Zebo hasn't provided significant positives for Ireland's attacking game at fullback, where he also won his first two caps away to New Zealand and at home to Australia in 2012. Aside from his floated, try-scoring pass for Felix Jones (the only other player to feature at fullback in the Schmidt era) in the first World Cup warm-up game as a replacement, Zebo scored against Scotland and in the World Cup against Romania, after a foot-in-touch denied him the cheekiest of tries, he gave three try-scoring passes.

In the Six Nations opener against Wales, Zebo's lines of running asked serious questions of the Welsh defence and, thanks to one searing counter-attack, he comfortably carried for more metres than any other Irish player that day. Admittedly, most fullbacks do nowadays.

Payne has never even run at fullback in training with Ireland. All his previous dozen caps had been earned at outside centre. In these pages after the Twickenham game, Gordon D’Arcy highlighted how the younger pairing might not have had the experience or confidence to demand possession when there was more space out wide.

Johnny Sexton has stated that Payne makes those around him play better, not least with his vision and communication skills on the pitch. One ventures that the greater awareness of the possibilities out wide last Saturday were at least in part due to the presence of Payne; as was the improved defensive line speed.

Stunning offload

It was also Payne’s support play and lobbed inside pass to Sexton from Zebo’s stunning offload which continued that wondrous, eight-pass try-scoring move from deep on half-time. That was the zenith of Zebo’s display, but he was always looking to accelerate into space and to link, with the ball at arm’s length, thus making others alive to the possibilities.

True, Zebo wasn't tested much defensively, and even then probably won't have enjoyed the video review of Leonardo Sarto's try. But the presence of Zebo and Stuart Hogg on Saturday at the Aviva Stadium could be worth the admission money alone.

In addition to using his superb, dancing footwork to score one try, Hogg also produced the high point of the Scotland-France with his overhead flick for Tim Visser’s match-clinching try against France. And à la Zebo, Hogg was also culpable for the try by Guilhem Guirado when missing his tackle on the French captain, who gave another tour de force. Zebo and Hogg increase the probability of scores!

In addition to their heightened aerial skills, as much as ever fullbacks are the jokers in the backline, with the greatest licence to room and strike, whether it be as an alternate first receiver (as Zebo and Hogg do, and WillIe le Roux so effectively for the Springboks) or as a creator or finisher in the wider channels.

The World Cup was notable for attacking fullback play. Japan’s Ayumu Goromaru set the tone when finishing off that superb strike move against South Africa, as well as converting seven kicks from nine for a 24-point haul. Argentina’s Joaquín Tuculet was a standout creative force for Argentina, as Ireland discovered only too well with the fullback’s superb, match-winning 69th-minute finish to a lovely Pumas move when dummying Rob Kearney and taking Dave Kearney’s tackle with a remarkable twisting touchdown in the corner.

Aggrieved

Israel Folau is probably the best of them all but was clearly hampered before growing into the tournament, while Ben Smith could feel aggrieved at missing out to Goromaru on the World Cup dream team.

Aside from the sublime running threat which helped keep Israel Dagg out of the All Blacks’ squad, as Smith showed in his semi-final performance against the Springboks there is no finer exponent around of the one-man kick-chase.

In Saturday’s title shoot-out at Twickenham, there were two more potent displays from fullback by Mike Brown and Liam Williams. It was the break by Brown, utterly assured throughout the tournament, that helped assert England’s first-half dominance, and Williams’ bravery and ability in the air which helped keep a strangely out-of-sorts Wales in the game before his half-break and sumptuous inside pass to Jonathan Davies gave them a lifeline.

Yep, the fullback is back.

gthornley@irishtimes.com