Simon Zebo stands on the verge of becoming the first Munster player to score a half-century of tries for the province. It's a remarkable achievement given he has still to start 100 games – his haul having come from 98 starts and 11 appearances off the bench, and he is still only 26.
A trawl through his annual tallies demonstrates his remarkably consistent strike rate, and also that he is no flat-track bully, for his strike rate in the Heineken Cup/European Champions Cup is actually higher than in the Pro12.
Amongst his many attributes, he is clearly an exceptional finisher. Nothing illustrated this more than his 49th and most recent try, the opening score in Munster’s bonus-point win over Leinster on St Stephen’s Day.
It was typical of both his hunger to show for the ball and his telepathic understanding with his good mate Conor Murray – think back to the latter's no-look pass for Zebo against Leicester close to the ruck in their opening try that day too.
For the try against Leinster, Zebo took a long arcing run to the right-hand blindside touchline, Murray finding him with a skip pass. Even then, Zebo had no right to score, but took Jamison Gibson-Park’s shoulder hit and Barry Daly’s tackle to twist in mid-air and dot down by the corner flag before being bundled into touch-in-goal. As the video screen showed that he had somehow scored, the crowd gasped.
Hours of practice or innate instinct? the Sky presenter Alex Payne asked Shane Horgan. "It's a mixture of both. He's certainly a guy who practices his skills. We've seen that twist and turn work a lot. But do you know what? This isn't on. This shouldn't be a try. It's a phenomenal finish. That's the difference between a regular player and Zebo."
Unequalled
Horgan should know. He scored a record 69 tries for Leinster in 203 games, a tally unequalled by any player for his province. He's followed by Andrew Trimble on 64 tries for Ulster (in 200 games), Brian O'Driscoll on 62 (in 186 games), Gordon D'Arcy on 60 (in 257 games), Tommy Bowe on 58 (in 143 games for Ulster) and Denis Hickie on 55 in 125 games for Leinster.
(*R denotes appearances off the bench)
Zebo is Munster’s all-time leading try scorer, having eclipsed Anthony Horgan’s tally of 41, achieved in 146 games, when registering a double against Zebre last March. Horgan, needless to say, was delighted for Zebo, not least as this is good for Munster, and hereafter the more he extends his tally the better.
“Ah look, they’re there to be broken. He’s a great talent. It [setting the record] was never something that crossed my mind,” says Horgan, who admits “it’s absolutely frightening” as to what Zebo’s total might ultimately be if he stays fit and well.
“I mean, what age is the young fella, 26? If he stays around, and he stays injury-free, there’s nothing stopping him getting to 100, is there?”
While Zebo is known for his pace and ability to beat the first tackle with his footwork or that trademark twist and turn, in citing that try against Leinster, Anthony Horgan highlighted another aspect to Zebo's game. "He's strong. He had no right whatsoever to score that try, but he's a bloody good finisher. He certainly knows where the try-line is."
Whereas Zebo started out his representative career (like Munster’s Horgan) as pretty much an out-and-out winger, in latter years he has been employed at fullback, and if anything this seems to have delved deeper into his talents as well as his finishing; all of which is to Munster’s benefit.
“You put him at ‘15’ and you’re going to get him on the ball more. You want him involved in a game as much as possible. Simple as that. The more he is on the ball, the more Munster are on the attack, or he is going to create something.”
And that’s another thing. Zebo is way more than a finisher, and has a fair array of creative moments and try-scoring assists in his box of tricks, whether it’s phenomenal skip-passes or offloads, or his hugely varied kicking game, which has an uncanny knack of finding space.
One thinks of his kick into space which led to Robbie Henshaw's victory-sealing try against the All Blacks or his wicked grubber from which his kindred spirit Keith Earls set up Iain Henderson's try against Australia.
Vision
“He has great vision, he’s just aware on the field,” says Horgan. “He’s aware of what’s going on around him and he’s aware of space, and where to put the ball or where to run with it, and I think he’s tightened up his defence a little bit,” adds Horgan.
Indeed, while Zebo wouldn’t be renowned for his defence, he has saved plenty of tries this season with his over tackling, his pace helping him to track runners on his outside and haul them down with textbook side-on tackling. “What we see there is just pace,” says Horgan. “We’ve seen that in the last two months, he has serious gas.” As for his aerial skills, Horgan describes them as “brilliant”.
Zebo has also undoubtedly improved what was one of the weaker aspects of his game, namely his contribution at ruck time. And after a tricky, transitional phase for Munster, just as importantly, like Murray, Earls, CJ Stander and Peter O’Mahony, Zebo is box-office. He’s a hugely popular figure with Munster’s fan base, and brings a smiling air of daring and fun to a sometimes overtly serious sport.
Right now too, at 26, he appears to be playing as well as ever. “He’s uber-confident,” says Horgan, “and I think you can see that on the field. In the last 12 months, whereas he was confident before, I think he nearly has new-found confidence on top of that, and that’s definitely been expressed on the field at the moment.”
“Munster need him on the field, and involved as much as possible, and he’s hungry. You can see that with the tries he scored off Conor’s passes against Leicester and Leinster. He’s always around.”
