LOVE HIM OR hate him, there can be little argument that Simon Zebo is an effective rugby player when fully fit.
55 appearances for Munster have brought 22 tries; six Ireland caps have seen the Cork man dot down twice; the 23-year-old even lined out three times for the Lions last summer in Australia. Zebo’s attacking talent has been matched by improving defensive and fielding skills, and he is set to be one of the most important players in his province’s long-term future.
Away from that playing ability, some issue has been taken with the manner in which the wing [or fullback] celebrates his tries. There have been big dives, the now trademark ‘Z’ hand signal and a generally exuberant approach to Zebo’s actions in marking his pleasure at scoring. In certain corners, there is concern that the Cork Con clubman is not a team player.
However, Munster head coach Rob Penney wouldn’t like to see Zebo change his attitude. Some people may hate what the wide man brings to the game outside of his actual playing contribution…
And some people love it. For every ying, there’s a yang. Zeebs is a fantastic athlete and he’s a great ambassador for rugby. You see what he does for young people and kids in the stand. He’s a massive favourite for everybody in Munster and Irish rugby.
“The reason is that people can relate to what he does. If you’ve got a few sad people who don’t like what he does, that’s their issue.”
Penney feels that as long as his young outside back continues to deliver the goods in terms of performance, he should carry on enjoying himself. Zebo is regaining match fitness having recovered from a foot injury and a try-scoring performance at fullback in last weekend’s 54-13 victory over the Cardiff Blues was another step in the right direction.
With another outing against Zebre to come this weekend, the former PBC student is hoping to show Joe Schmidt what his Ireland team is missing at the moment. Penney is confident that ‘Zeebs’ can continue his improvement.
“The key thing is that he backs those antics up, that mannerism, with great performances. He’s coming back off a long injury and he’s not at his best yet, but we’ve seen even in the last couple of weeks glimpses of the man and the talent he can bring. Look, if people get upset about his antics, it’s their problem, not his.”
