Loyal servant Easterby upbeat ahead of ‘toughest test’ France

HE was born in the Yorkshire town of Harrogate, is captain of Welsh club Llanelli and he has played almost all of his rugby across the water.

All that said, Ireland have had few more loyal servants than the 32-year-old Simon Easterby, who qualifies to represent Ireland because of a Dublin mother, and is set to win his 61st cap against France tomorrow night.

Faced by a battery of cameras and tape recorders, he admitted “we have to perform better than we have so far in this World Cup against France. We know we’re capable of beating them and we’re confident of doing so.”

Despite their poor showings against Namibia and Georgia, Easterby maintains that there is no sense of desperation in the squad.

“Jerry Flannery will be out to prove a point coming in for Rory Best and Eoin Reddan deserves his place at number nine having played so well for Wasps at the end of last season.

“He will add a different dimension to what Peter could bring. This is our biggest Test match for a long time and it’s very exciting and you don’t need any motivation at all to get up for it.”

And he is adamant that victory in Stade de France tomorrow night is achievable.

“We need to keep the ball which we haven’t done so far. I think that if you keep the ball away from the French, keep hold of it for longer periods than we have done so far in this World Cup, then I feel we have a good opportunity to beat them.

“Our defence is the key to winning. If we defend well against a very good attacking side, we will be there or thereabouts. We must go out at the Stade de France to try and relax and enjoy the game and the atmosphere and the fact that we’re at the World Cup and have a good chance of beating France. I know we’ve been written off by the press but having lost their first game, they are under a lot of pressure. Being the underdogs suits us just fine.”