Ireland utility back Simon Zebo spoke to the media on Wednesday (30th September) ahead of their match on Sunday (4th October) with Italy in the 2015 Rugby World Cup.

Script:

SOUNDBITE: (English) Simon Zebo, Ireland winger/full back (Q: After Canada and Romania does it feel like the World Cup starts from now?)

"Yeah it feels like a massive test, you know it's a knockout game between the sides, so it's all on the line for both teams and we've got to make sure we come out on the better side of it. The first two games they were obviously tough Tests and they put us through our paces and made us work for our scores, but at the same time we can only play what is in front of us and we're preparing now for a massive challenge and a step up this weekend and it will be exciting."

SOUNDBITE: (English) Simon Zebo, Ireland winger/full back (Q: Is this a squad that can go all the way in the Rugby World Cup?)

"Everybody seems to say it, but it is a long bit away and you only trip over yourself if you look too far ahead and we just want to focus on Italy because we know what a massive challenge they're going to pose this weekend. So if we don't go fully prepared going into them we'll leave with eggs on our face, so we're going to have to focus on Italy."

SOUNDBITE: (English) Simon Zebo, Ireland winger/full back (Q: The competition for places in the back three is fierce isn't it?)

"Yeah it's very tight and it's very close, but that's the way we'd want it to be and that's better for the collective. So yeah there is a lot of world-class players in our back three division, so everybody is pushing each other on and hopefully that will help us to win games."

SOUNDBITE: (English) Simon Zebo, Ireland winger/full back (Q: What do you see as Italy's strengths?)

"They're a dangerous side, they can have a lot of flair at times and they can be just a a very aggressive team. So I think we have to stop them getting forward momentum and hopefully nullify their attack because they're due a very big game in this tournament and we don't want it to be against us. So yeah we'll have our work cut out for us trying to cancel them out."

SOUNDBITE: (English) Simon Zebo, Ireland winger/full back (Q: Is there a sense that you're flying under the radar having not played any of the elite sides in the World Cup yet?)

"We don't take too much notice of that to be honest, we just keep performing as well as we can and we don't mind being under the radar, as long as we're winning matches we're happy. So we'll let you guys do the talking and we'll do the playing."