{"id":903712,"date":"2026-09-24T12:24:09","date_gmt":"2026-09-24T12:24:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/903712\/"},"modified":"2026-09-24T12:24:09","modified_gmt":"2026-09-24T12:24:09","slug":"simon-zebo-picks-out-team-to-beat-in-urc-and-others-in-the-mix","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/903712\/","title":{"rendered":"Simon Zebo picks out ‘team to beat’ in URC and others ‘in the mix’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ireland<\/a> great Simon Zebo says the standard of rugby in the United Rugby Championship (URC) has increased ten-fold as he makes his predictions for the coming campaign.<\/p>\n

The multi-nation competition is now into its sixth season and the 35-cap Zebo believes it is going from strength to strength.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow it\u2019s evolved is how attractive it is to watch on the eye,\u201d said the former Munster Rugby wing.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the standard of the league across the board and the style we are being treated to, there\u2019s a lot of quality on the pitch.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s why there\u2019s such a good connection with a lot of the supporters who are mad keen to go to the stadiums and watch live matches.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt all boils down to the quality of the product. We are being treated to some amazing games, great cross culture matches.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are loads of different styles that we are able to watch on view instead of just one country specifically. You\u2019ve got the South African style versus the Irish style, the Italians, Scots and Welsh.<\/p>\n

Great crossover<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a great crossover and the difference in styles naturally prepares you for international rugby.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the difficulty in the league is that it\u2019s so hard to win. That\u2019s connected to the crossover in styles, the different cultures and different tests that come at you from week to week.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s preparing for a Scottish team like Glasgow<\/a> who can run at you from everywhere and then the following week playing the Bulls who are going to scrum you off the pitch to then maybe playing Munster<\/a> or Leinster<\/a> who can bring the aerial game into it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are just so many different styles and lots of crossover and so many international players who are on display in the BKT URC<\/a> now.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are nearly like smaller international matches with the quality of player on the field.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe competition is continuing to grow. The standard of rugby we are being treated to has gone up ten fold. That\u2019s why I think it\u2019s continuing to drive engagement, get people talking and there is a lot of excitement around now for the new season.\u201d<\/p>\n

Zebo<\/a> believes league champions Leinster Rugby remain the team to beat in the URC as the campaign gets underway this weekend.<\/p>\n

Leinster have won the title for the past two years, beating the Bulls in successive finals at the Aviva Stadium.<\/p>\n

Now they will be looking to make it three in a row to mark Leo Cullen\u2019s final campaign as head coach in style.<\/p>\n

Peter O\u2019Mahony reveals how \u2018bad business\u2019 meeting with Graham Rowntree \u2018fuelled a resentment\u2019 and left him \u2018raging\u2019 with Munster<\/a><\/p>\n

Why Jacques Nienaber believes Lions are \u2018force to be reckoned with\u2019 and \u2018one of the big off-field goals\u2019 for Leinster in South Africa<\/a><\/p>\n

And former Munster and Racing 92 flyer Zebo feels they will be hard to stop as they continue to set the benchmark in the cross-border tournament.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would say that Leinster are still the team to beat,\u201d said the Premier Sports pundit while speaking on a BKT URC Round Table.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, there\u2019s a lot of quality in South Africa in particular. The size and tactics of their teams can be a bit of an Achilles heel for the Irish sides at times.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut given what Leinster have done to the Bulls in previous finals, their squad is so deep, they have so much quality.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a confidence there as well when you are champions. It\u2019s tough to knock over the current champs.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith the South African sides, Glasgow and Munster, there are plenty of teams in the mix.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut, as of now, Leinster are probably still favourites going in by the bookies. It\u2019s hard to begrudge them that.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think they are still very much the team to beat.\u201d<\/p>\n

Zebo feels that making a strong start to the URC campaign is a key factor in terms of mounting a title challenge.<\/p>\n

\u201cFinding a rhythm early on is probably the hardest part,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cGetting an early start breeds confidence for the rest of the season.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen other factors come into play about squad health, fatigue and all other things.<\/p>\n

Knock-on effect<\/p>\n

\u201cBut if you can get out early ahead of the pack, avoid that mosh pit and stay top three, top four, it just has a massive bearing on the rest of your season.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou are not chasing points as heavily in the later rounds. The knock on effect is huge.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou are far better off getting a good early start and getting that confidence in your game plan early doors.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 36-year-old Zebo will be covering the league campaign as a pundit having moved into the media since hanging up his boots in 2024.<\/p>\n

Want more from Planet Rugby? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list<\/a> for world-class coverage you can trust.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love it. I\u2019m incredibly fortunate to work with Premier Sports and get to stay up close with the action and remain in contact with the current players and past buddies that you played with.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s nice to give insight and have a bit of fun at the same time. It comes back to the rugby we are being treated to. The product is so good at the moment.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s always a joy. I wouldn\u2019t call it work to be honest. It\u2019s a privilege to be involved in the game still. It\u2019s a nice transition out of playing the game.\u201d<\/p>\n

READ MORE: Stormers confirm signing of former World Junior Player of the Year with \u2018incredibly high ceiling\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ireland great Simon Zebo says the standard of rugby in the United Rugby Championship (URC) has increased ten-fold…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":903713,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,178371,36177,45840,179194,4027,58385,201597,818,6265,4127,136041,44,193328,760,59697,1042,85,134440,178372,134441,136780],"class_list":["post-903712","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-benetton-treviso","tag-bulls","tag-cardiff-rugby","tag-connacht","tag-dragons","tag-edinburgh","tag-glasgow-warriors","tag-home-page","tag-leinster","tag-lions","tag-munster","tag-news","tag-ospreys","tag-rugby","tag-scarlets","tag-sharks","tag-sports","tag-stormers","tag-ulster","tag-united-rugby-championship","tag-zebre"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/903712","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=903712"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/903712\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/903713"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=903712"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=903712"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=903712"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}