'I’ll confirm that shortly' — Retirement on Zebo's mind as he returns to full fitness
RETIREMENT PLANS? BoyleSports ambassador Simon Zebo looks ahead to this weekend’s Six Nations clash between England and Ireland. Pic: David Fitzgerald, Sportsfile
Simon Zebo is leaning towards retirement when the current club season ends.
The Munster back will be 34 at the end of this month and is sidelined for now with a knee injury. His current contract is due to expire in the summer and head coach Graham Rowntree has signalled that major changes will soon be made to the roster.
Zebo has spent too much time on the sideline the last two seasons. He played just six times last term and missed Munster’s successful tilt at the URC title. He has made just five appearances so far in the current campaign with injury again too much of a theme.
It may well be time to finish up, but he hasn’t put in his papers just yet.
“When the season started, in my head, going on from last year, I was thinking this would probably be my last this and that.
"But now, after I’ve gone back and played so well in the Champions Cup and in the Irish derbies, the body was feeling good and I thought I’d keep going.
“I’m humming and hawing. I want to see how I get back when I’m fit and available. If it’s my last season it’s my last season. I would like to finish healthy and finish playing well, as I was beforehand, as opposed to not feeling good.
“I don’t want to be that 35-year-old full-back scraping performances. No, I’d rather finish feeling fit and healthy. Most likely this will be my last season, but I’ll confirm that shortly.”
As mentioned, the injuries have been all the more frustrating for the snatches of form glimpsed this term when he has been available. The hope is that he can show some more of that sparkle when he makes it back from his latest spell in casualty.
A knee injury suffered against Northampton Saints in January is the latest culprit.
All going well, he will have his hand up for selection for the province’s next game, against Ospreys, at the Swansea.com Stadium on March 22nd.
“I’ve done about 15 running sessions now so I’m close to getting back on the pitch,” he said.
Whenever it ends, Zebo’s career has been one to remember, but there are some boxes left unticked. He played twice in Twickenham with Ireland, for example, and came out the wrong side of the scoreboard both times.
Like most of us, he’s confident that Ireland can claim a second straight win at RFU HQ this weekend, and a fourth straight over the English in all, at a venue that he feels is “quite tame” now compared to days gone by.
“Supporters want to feed off a bit of exciting rugby, something they can get behind, an identity in the team, and England are just lacking that a bit at the moment. You can’t really see what they are trying to do.
“Felix [Jones] is starting to implement his stamp on the defence. You can see where they are going there but I just don’t see that from an attacking point of view and it’s hard to get behind that if you’re in the crowd and you don’t understand what they’re looking to do.”
He heard Jamie Heaslip suggest this week that Ireland would need to lose two players to red cards for England to have some joy and could only agree. For all England’s inevitable huff and puff, Zebo sees a 15-20 point win for the visitors.
“I just don’t see it being a daunting task for Ireland. That positive brand that we’re trying to play is very difficult to stop. Even a well-oiled South African team like we saw in the World Cup still struggled with that attacking shape.”
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