Another defeat out of the question, insists Zebo

Simon Zebo says there’s no time for Munster to feel sorry for themselves ahead of a testing trip to Treviso this weekend with the prospect of a second defeat in as many weeks not an option as far as the Ireland wing is concerned.

Munster’s Guinness Pro12 campaign began in the worst possible fashion at Thomond Park last Friday when a sloppy performance consigned the province to a 14-13 defeat in Anthony Foley’s first competitive match as head coach.

Zebo was one of the few Munster players to emerge with reputation intact but he took no pleasure in that as his side prepares for a trip to northern Italy this Friday night to take on a side that has beaten them on their last two visits to Stadio Monigo.

“We have really looked inside ourselves, starting off the campaign with a loss at Thomond Park is unacceptable,” Zebo said yesterday following a squad training session in Cork. “There has been a lot of disappointment over the weekend but it is time to bounce back now because we don’t have time to be feeling sorry for ourselves, we have a tough trip to Italy now so we have to put our mistakes right next weekend.”

Losing two games in a row having just succumbed to a third straight Thomond Park defeat in their opening game was unthinkable, Zebo agreed.

“Definitely yeah, that is a no-no situation. That is something that we can’t let happen, even though it is the start of the season and one or two little things might be off in regards to execution of both attack and defence, but we set high enough standards here at Munster and two losses back-to-back is something we definitely won’t be going out to let happen.”

Zebo was playing his first game since Ireland’s summer tour to Argentina and although he relished his return to action against Edinburgh, it was a difficult night to enjoy.

“I was just delighted to be named on the team,” he said. “Get out and get a few touches, it had been such a long time since I had played but it is still a hugely disappointing, I don’t really reflect on games, on my individual performance, when we lose.

“The overriding feeling is just disappointment and you just want to get back to the drawing board as a collective, you don’t really think individually regardless of how well you play. We just need to go out now as a team this weekend and show that back-to-back losses is not on the cards.”

Munster should be boosted by the expected reappearance of Number 8 Robin Copeland this weekend. The summer signing from Cardiff Blues missed the opening loss to Edinburgh with a rib injury sustained in the previous week’s friendly win over London Irish but took a full part in training at CIT yesterday.

More of Copeland’s fellow Emerging Ireland tourists will also be available as well as some of Zebo’s Test cohorts to give Munster a much-needed boost after last weekend’s disappointment.”