Simon Zebo: Munster ‘crème de la crème’ of club rugby

Simon Zebo has described Munster as the “crème de la crème” of club rugby as speculation continues over his future.

The exciting 27-year-old is locked in talks with IRFU chiefs as his existing contract is set to expire at the end of June 2018.

Negotiations on a new deal are understood to be well advanced with Zebo set to secure a national rather than a provincial contract — a deal which would be vital to keeping him in Ireland. Discussing the situation at the Munster High Performance Centre yesterday, the exciting star was his usual enthusiastic self where his career with Munster is concerned.

But he might also be well amenable to a lucrative offer from France where the top clubs are paying massive salaries to international stars of Zebo’s stature and where he has made no secret of his desire to go before the end of his career.

“I’m still deciding on what I’m going to do in terms of my family and my future,” he said.

“I’ll be coming to a decision soon. I have been linked with a move to France some time in my career. It could be at any level or at any time. I don’t know. But in my eyes, Munster rugby is the crème de la crème when it comes to club rugby.

“I’m very happy to be spending my time here at the moment. If something changes or if I have a different motive for moving then we’ll see, but at the moment I’m just committed to playing as best as a I can on the pitch and enjoying nights like next Saturday. And that’s incredible”.

Zebo has his sights on a big performance when Racing 92 visit Thomond Park for a massive European Champions Cup tie.

“We need a big performance and to hit the ground running from the get-go”, he said. “And definitely there’s no better place to play. A night-time kick-off at Thomond Park in European rugby ... it just doesn’t come any better. It’s the atmosphere.

“You can’t compare it to anywhere else. It’s just so different. There’s an air about the place, it could be anything ... a forward pass, a knock-on, they scream as loud as if it was an end to end seven-pointer. It’s probably daunting for opposition to come here but it’s incredible for us, like a 16th man.

“You have to be out on the pitch to appreciate what it’s like”.