Simon Zebo's been 'brilliant' since returning to Munster Rugby

MUNSTER Rugby head coach Johann van Graan says Simon Zebo's return to the province has been like he was never away.

Thirty one-year-old Zebo featured in the 60-minute in-house Munster Challenge Match at Thomond Park on Saturday.

Zebo made 144 appearances for Munster, scoring 60 tries, before departing the province for French Top14 side Racing 92 in 2017.

He has returned to Munster this summer on a one-year contract after spending a successful three years in France that saw him score 25 tries in 60 appearances for Racing 92.

Asked about how Zebo is settling back into life at Munster, Van Graan said this Tuesday: “Zeebs came in on the first day and it was like he was never away. When he came back at the time in preseason the group was still pretty young so that was really good for him to get to know all the non-international lads.

“He has been brilliant, worked really hard on his conditioning. You can also see from a leadership point of view, a back three point of view, the role he will play in the team. We have a lot of depth in those positions. Right from the offset we said he is not guaranteed a place in the team.

“Just like every other player he is going to have to work and perform to get into that starting team. But he’s been brilliant. He’s very good with his craic and he brings good balance to the squad.

“On top of it all if you saw some moments on Saturday when red played grey (in-house match) he certainly hasn’t lost his magic ball in hand, so again, like a whole host of other lads, we are really looking forward to seeing how he goes.”