Door is not closed on Munster return, says Zebo ahead of move
SIMON Zebo has expressed his desire to return to Ireland and finish his career with Munster after his stint in France comes to an end.
Having announced his departure in October, the full-back is expected to sign for Racing 92 at the end of this season.
He was subsequently omitted from the Ireland squad for the November internationals, but believes he’s in with a shout of selection for the Six Nations.
He says he took the decision to leave to give the French Top 14 a proper crack while still in his prime, but admits he wants to return to his home province again.
“I had to make a decision for me and what I consider is best for me and my family,” he said.
“It’s something I always wanted to do and the right opportunity at the right time came up.
“I’m still young enough, the door isn’t fully closed on me, I’d still love to be a part of Munster Rugby in the future.
“Trying out the Top 14 is always something I wanted to do. I could have waited until I was 31 or 32 and be a sheep like 90% of all the players who decide to go then, but I wanted to try it when I’m in my prime and give it my best shot.
“Munster is my home. In my eyes, it’s one of the best places in the world to play rugby.
“This is a step I’ve wanted to take in my life, but I’m definitely not closing the door and hopefully Munster wouldn’t close the door on me either.”
Now he hopes the Ireland coach is true to his own word when it comes to the Six Nations selection after Christmas.
If Zebo is the form back three player in the country, and Joe Schmidt says the door remains open, then he hopes he still has a fair chance of being picked.
Ireland went well without him in November as he seemingly began life in exile, but he believes his experience should count in his favour come February.
“That’ll be tough too in the future,” he said of his likely omission when he moves to France next season.
“But Joe said the door wasn’t closed, so if he’s telling the truth and I’m playing well in the Six Nations then I might have a chance to get in there.”
After excluding the in-form full-back from his squad for the November internationals, Schmidt said he had moved from the centre of his thinking to the periphery because of his impending exit.
“I know it’s imperfect,” Schmidt said. “I was asked earlier would Simon be in the mix? Of course he would be because he was in the forefront of our thinking. He’s moved to the periphery, but he’s still there.”
Zebo’s absence wasn’t felt during a successful November, but with the stakes increasing in the spring he believes he has something to offer.
“I was okay,” he said of the experience of missing out last month.
“I was kept busy and I was with my kids a lot so I didn’t have the TV on too much.
“It was good, there was a lot of young guys who got a run and wereabletoexcelatthatlevel.It was great to see.”
IF it was possible to buy stock in Iain Henderson, there’s no doubting that now would be a good time to do so. Since the man widely regarded as Rory Best’s successor in the Ulster captaincy role signed his last contract in 2015, he has become a regular starter for Ireland, starred at a World Cup, and went on a Lions tour to New Zealand.
Now requiring a bump to an IRFU-funded central contract, the 25-year-old admitted last month that he had fielded offers from abroad but would be sitting down with Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt and Performance Director David Nucifora before making any decision on whether to follow the likes of Simon Zebo and Donncha Ryan out of Ireland and, as a result, the national side.
With at least one high-spending English club believed to have firmed up their interest, and Henderson a key part of plans for the 2019 World Cup, as well as a talismanic figure for his province who have produced all too few forwards of his calibre in recent years, it is a contract negotiation the powers that be can ill afford to let slip.
After starring for Ulster again in the crucial European win over Harlequins last weekend, he laughed off suggestions that his price was only moving in one direction, and admitted that in recent weeks the process has been left to his agent, Ulster’s European Cup winning winger Andy Park.
“I don’t think I can go and check the stocks and shares here,” he joked.
“Actually I haven’t spoken a huge amount about it the last few weeks.
“I like to push it away and leave it to other people to kind of sort that out at the minute. With Europe, and being thrown in as captain at the end of last week, I’m just kind of keeping my hands clean of all that and concentrating on this role.
“Hopefully it’ll all be sorted ULSTER will again be without their inspirational captain Rory Best when Harlequins come to Belfast on Friday night (7.45pm kick-off ).
The Ireland skipper missed out on the reverse fixture last Sunday with an infected cut on soon.”
The Quins win once again only served to highlight Henderson’s importance to the Ulster cause, not just in his performance but how he filled in for Rory Best when the skipper missed out thanks to an infected cut on his ankle.
He figures to lead the side out again when the same opposition come to Belfast on Friday night (7.45pm kick-off) in a game when another victory will his ankle, while in his absence Ulster gave their Champions Cup quarter-final hopes a real boost with a hard-fought victory in the London snow.
And it was confirmed by head coach Jono Gibbes yesterday that they will have to do without him again this weekend as the province seek to put themselves in a strong position to claim a best provide a real shot in the arm for Ulster’s hopes of returning to Europe’s last eight for a first time since 2014.
Close to Best since he joined the Ulster set-up, Henderson has also seen the likes of Paul O’Connell at close quarters and, when having to fill the skipper’s shoes, he aims to emulate how that duo led by example.
“I constantly spend a lot of time with Rory, over the summer, Ireland camps, Ulster runners-up spot ahead of January’s conclusion of the pool.
Tommy Bowe is another who will be absent after, having nursed a hamstring injury for the first 50 minutes last week, he missed the only full training session of the week.
With the five-day turnaround, and their late arrival back in Belfast on Sunday, Ulster regrouped training, and you learn an awful lot working with an awful lot of good leaders.
“At this stage, when I find out that I might be captaining the side, you sort of start to gather your thoughts, try to understand what previous leaders have done and what you can recall, (look at) why they were good leaders and take a bit of that.
“Probably the thing that stands out in my mind is that at the indoor facilities at Jordanstown yesterday, with the captain’s run tomorrow all that’s left before Friday’s re-match.
With Luke Marshall and Jared Payne already out with injuries, Bowe’s absence robs the team of another option in the 13 jersey, but Gibbes does not believe Ulster are short in that area.
Darren Cave, stuck on 199 Ul-