Simon Zebo: ‘It was an exciting day to be part of’

It seems like sacrilege to view Simon Zebo’s intuitive style of rugby through the cold prism of statistics, but there are nuggets to be gleaned from the professorial approach.

It has taken injury to Rob Kearney for the Munster back to be afforded his shot at full-back in this Six Nations, but he has responded impressively to the unexpected opportunities against Wales and Italy on Saturday.

Full-backs, by dint of the fact they are stationed in such splendid isolation, routinely clock up a substantial number of metres made so the 149 Zebo has managed in his two starts is probably among the least interesting figures attached to his name. More pertinent is the fact he has gathered the ball 48 times and run with it exactly half of those times.