Restless Zebo gunning for action against Dragons

Given it has been 103 days since he last threw a pass in anger, Simon Zebo could be forgiven for feeling just a little frustrated that he still has two more days to go before he finally rejoins the party for Munster at Thomond Park.

Though June 7 ended in defeat for Zebo, as Ireland suffered a 42-10 first Test defeat at Eden Park to the world champion All Blacks, it was enough of a red-letter day for the Munster wing to have nothing but happy memories and positives to take from a Test debut at one of rugby’s most hallowed grounds. It is just a shame Zebo has not seen any playing time since.

That should change on Saturday night, now the IRFU through its player welfare programme has released Zebo to start his season in Munster’s home RaboDirect Pro12 encounter at home to Dragons.

“It’s a little frustrating,” Zebo, 22, admitted. “When you see your team-mates out there playing, you always want to be out there playing with them. It’s tough but it’s a long season and you can see where the IRFU is coming from as well. I just can’t wait now to get out on the pitch. It’s going to be enjoyable. Fingers crossed, I’ll be back this week. I’m feeling very sharp and excited. It’s been a long time now since I’ve had a competitive ball in my hand so I’m just looking to get on the pitch and get back out there.”

Despite having a sore left ankle wrapped in ice as a “precaution”, the excitement is palpable, not just to finally be getting some game time but, for a wing, to at last play a part in Munster’s new, more expansivegameplan forged by head coach Rob Penney and backs coach Simon Mannix.

“It’s going to be my first time experiencing it, hopefully, at the weekend in a live match. I’m just looking forward to getting out there and trying the things that we’ve been working hard at in training and getting my hands on the ball. It’s a different style of play. Forwards and backs are interacting a lot more and there just seems to be more of a cohesiveness, so it will be interesting to see now how it forms on the pitch but that’s the vibe I’m getting.

“You could see from last week’s game (at Ulster) that it was a great spectacle to watch. Unfortunately we didn’t come out with the win but it’s just exciting stuff. It’s an exciting brand of rugby and I’m looking forward to putting it into practice. Luke O’Dea and Casey have been expressing themselves and we’ve a lot more talent as well so when we get the ball in our hands we can do good things with it, so just looking to do more of the same this weekend.”

Onwards and upwards, just as Zebo prefers to treat that summer tour and three-Test series whitewash over in New Zealand.

“It’s good to have that in the bank now,” the Corkman said. “It was a good experience and hopefully I’ll learn from the tour and develop as a better player coming into this season for Munster. It’s a big season ahead for us now. There’s been negatives from the tour to New Zealand butpersonally there’s also been a lot of positives that I’m delighted with. So, yeah, I don’t dwell too much on the bad things. I was delighted to get a start for Ireland, to get my first full Test cap. That was something special and something I’ll never forget.

“Unfortunately the results didn’t go our way but I’ll look on the bright side and take the good things from it.”