Zebo On Zebre
8th January 2015 By Munster Rugby
Munster winger Simon Zebo discusses the threat posed by Zebre as Munster venture to Italian soil for round 13 of the Guinness PRO12.
Last time out against Zebre the Corkman scored his third hat-trick of tries for the province. However this weekend will prove to be a far stiffer test for Zebo and his colleagues. Since their visit to Limerick, the Italian outfit have picked up a number of big wins, including Ulster. Add to this that it’s Zebre who enjoy home advantage this weekend and the Munstermen know a big improvement on their recent exploits against Connacht are required if the province is to return to winning ways in the PRO12.
“It’s going to be a massive game and we’ll be looking to build momentum over this block of games we’ve got coming up. We need to right a performance that certainly was below par last weekend. We need to get some consistency but first and foremost this weekend we need to put in a big performance and fingers crossed it will be enough to get a win.
“They’re not an easy side to go and visit. They’ve got their bruisers and a hostile atmosphere. As well as their victories over Ulster and Edinburgh, they’ve run lots of teams close down there (including a one point loss to table toppers Ospreys).
“If you take them for granted, especially at home, you’ll leave the field with egg on your face so we’ll be going to put in a big performance. We’ve a massive task ahead in the next few weeks and it all starts with Zebre this weekend.
“They base their game around physicality and try to bully teams up front, making games scrappy and picking up wins. We’ll have to match them physically and hopefully then we can get a bit of ball out wide also.
“We go over there with a pint to prove after a poor performance last weekend and nothing less than a win will be acceptable. But it won’t be easy, they’re a rugged side and they’ve been unlucky not to get more wins under their belt so we need to up it this weekend.”
Zebre v Munster, Guinness PRO12 Round 13, Saturday January 10th at the Stadio XXV Aprile – KO 3pm Irish time.
