IF ALL GOES to plan Simon Zebo has a maximum of three more games left in a Munster jersey. Yet if the province were to fall to a surprise URC quarter-final defeat at home to Ospreys on Friday, then his playing career would be over by the weekend. Either way, the 34-year-old is keen to make the most of it and enjoy his final days as a Munster player, having recently confirmed that he will retire at the end of the season.
And in typical Zebo fashion he doesn’t appear to be the slightest bit stressed about it, talking through his thought process around the decision with a broad smile on his face. “It was easy enough,” says Zebo. “I think heading into the start of the season I would have had a feel for the body, some of the advice I’ve got throughout the years is that when you know you know and I had a gut feeling that I wanted to finish on a high and it’s just funny that in any interview I’ve done in the past I’ve said 34 would be a good age to call it, just because Dougie Howlett retired at that age! And I’ve always looked up to him and saw him call it while he still had it and he still had a big impact on games.
“But yeah, it’s great to be able to play back-to-back consecutively and still have my body and health to be able to show what I can still do on the pitch, and it’s been great. I’m looking forward to another big one this weekend and hopefully we can go another couple of games after that, but it’s all knockout rugby.” The Ospreys are the nex.
