Penney still backing injury-hit Zebo to make Aussie tour with Lions

Munster coach Rob Penney has backed Simon Zebo to tour Australia with the Lions this summer.

Penney is convinced Zebo’s broken foot won’t hamper his chances, saying he has already done enough to earn his place on Warren Gatland’s squad.

Although Zebo will miss the Heineken Cup quarter final against Harlequins – based on medical assessment the winger faces a ten week lay off – Penney believes the youngster has plenty of time to show Gatland he has what it takes.

In terms of the Heineken Cup cut off, Penney said: “Look, I wouldn’t venture to guess he could get back, that’s too tough; we’ve been told ten weeks which would make him unavailable. I haven’t been talking with him; I just flicked through messages over the text but he’ll be inundated so we just wished him all the best with the operation.

“But there’s plenty of football for him to prove himself. However, I think he has already proved himself as one of the best wingers in Europe and I’m sure the Lions management will be keen to take him.

“Getting injured can be cruel but he’s young, resilient and he will bounce back. The other side of the ledger is that it is still a long season with a lot of footie to go so he has time to bounce back and it won’t be too much of a hurdle for him.”

Although skipper Doug Howlett and Felix Jones are both likely to miss Saturday’s must-win RaboDirect Pro12 clash away to Scarlets, Munster could be boosted by the availability of Ronan O’Gara.

Penney awaits approval from national coach Declan Kidney whom he figures might be anxious to give O’Gara more game time given he is likely to start against Scotland a week from Sunday.

“He’s probably keen to get some footie and we’ll just wait for the word from above (Dublin).

“If any of the Irish boys need footie and want to play then they’ll be selected.”

The coach was upbeat after yesterday’s training session in the University of Limerick, reflecting on a comprehensive victory over Edinburgh last weekend when game management proved as important as taking scoring chances.

“We did some good stuff in the early part of the game to set ourselves up for what was a really good second half.

“We gave away a few penalties at scrum-time which hampered our ability to get some flow, but we built into the game nicely.

“All in all I’m excited going into the Scarlets fixture.”