Simon Zebo: ‘It’s been tough not being able to put my hand up to play with Ireland’

Simon Zebo still has zero regrets about moving to Racing 92 and Paris. It has not only been what he dreamed it might be but, if anything, more than that.

Nor has anything about these grim times altered his thinking. Looking on the bright side of life has always been his natural inclination. Even now. And if the three-week long lockdown in Paris has prompted Zebo to reflect on his decision to join Racing in 2018, it has only re-enforced that choice.

Speaking from his rooftop on Thursday evening under bright sunshine and clear blue skies, in temperatures around 13 degrees, he said: “I’d make the decision again 10 times over if I had the chance.

“It’s been one of the most amazing times in my life, not to mention my career, being over here, meeting the people I’ve met, playing the rugby I’ve been playing; just the whole package that comes with it is everything I thought it would be, and more. Definitely no regrets.”

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The ‘more’ refers to playing home games at the futuristic U Arena on its synthetic pitch, the training facilities, how “every single person” at Racing has been warm and friendly, and the camaraderie amongst the squad. “It’s very different from Munster obviously, but there’s a real brotherhood there.”

There’s not one person in the Racing squad he wouldn’t have a coffee with in the past, or wouldn’t do so in the future.

Option of a third year

And then there's been Paris. Zebo, his fiancee Elvira Fernandez, and their three kids Jacob (who is five in May), Sofia (who is four in August) and the Parisian-born Noah (four months old) have settled in better than he could have hoped.

The last time he checked with his agent, Shaun Longstaff, Zebo had the option of a third year which he intends taking up. Any thoughts then?

“Then? No, I don’t,” he answers in a manner which suggests he hasn’t given it much thought yet. He’ll be 31 in 2021 and admits: “Wherever I decide to play my rugby then will be where I finish. I’ll hopefully play until I’m 33/34. I don’t see myself playing till 36/37. I wouldn’t have the motivation to keep playing quite that long, to be honest with you, but at the moment I’m enjoying it and where I sign my next contract I would imagine it will be my last.”

As to where that might be, he says: “I’d imagine it would be Racing or Munster. They’re the two teams in my head. Neither of them might want me, I could want to new seek pastures elsewhere, you never know, because rugby doesn’t last forever so every experience is really important. We’ll have to see, but at the moment it would be Paris or Cork.”

His choice hasn’t been without sacrifices, like being away from their families, although either Paris or Cork would have applied for Elvira, who is Spanish, and he misses playing for Ireland.

‘I miss singing the anthems’

“It was definitely a dream come true to represent my country 35 times and every single time meant something special.”

The highlights were the 40-29 win over the All Blacks in Chicago and his debut, a 42-10 defeat by the All Blacks in Auckland. “You’d think one would weigh a lot more than the other,” he notes with a laugh, “but coming from where I came from and my journey to reach the international stage, that first was a really proud day.

“I miss singing the anthems and things like that. It’s been tough not being able to put my hand up to play with Ireland. I’d love to play for Ireland again but if not I’ll continue supporting them and enjoying it here.”

Zebo watched the World Cup from his home in Clamart, a town in the southwestern area of Paris less than nine kilometres from the city centre. Being five minutes from training and 20 minutes from home games, it's popular among the squad, with Finn Russell and Teddy Thomas nearby.

Last Wednesday the Zebos were due to move into Maxime Machenaud’s former home, in part because it was closer to the kids’ school but also the lay-out of the house is more suitable for a young family. While currently “quite restricted” in their daily life, with queues for the supermarket and butchers, a nearby forest offers an occasional outlet for the kids.

“Other than that, it’s just back garden and the house.”

‘There’s a fear in the air’

Paris without cafes and people sipping coffees at outside tables is “pretty eerie”.

“Even before the confinement and lockdown you could tell people were pretty nervous. In Paris there have been 5-6,000 deaths and that was more than America only a couple of days ago. People are afraid and you notice everybody is sticking to the social distancing. There’s a fear in the air. It’s definitely a changed environment.”

Yet, as the fortunate father of three kids under the age of five, there are worse scenarios.

“I’ve quite enjoyed it. I miss the rugby, and the lads and the camaraderie. Going to work is actually fun, so I wouldn’t actually call it work. It’s fun every day.”

“But then, on the other hand you get to spend so much time with your family and I get such enjoyment out of playing with my kids. Although the whole world has shut down it’s actually been a really enjoyable period for us,” he confesses, with an ironic chuckle.

We play ’tip the can’

Most days start at around 7am or 8am at the behest of Noah. “We have a pillar, against which we play ‘tip the can’ off, and then have breakfast out the back garden when it warms up a little bit.

“Jacob and Sofia love sport and play every sport – American Football, rugby, tennis, anything they feel like. The days actually pass by really quickly. It’s been fun.

“Then evening time can be a little bit of TV, read books to them and bed time. That’s literally our day for the past three weeks. The kids have had their moments, but for the most part it’s been really enjoyable.” They haven’t resorted to Disney Plus.

Zebo’s own grasp of French has obviously flourished while Jacob and Sofia speak a mixture of English and Spanish, although their French is also “coming along”. They’re attending a bi-lingual school near the Eiffel Tower and are due to switch to an all-French speaking school in September.

Play time with his kids also affords Elvira the chance to run her own skincare company, Sofia Juliette, while Zebo says he is maintaining his fitness and his weight to between 96 and 100kg. He has his own dumbbells and a bike, incorporating the two into a daily workout. No doubt plenty will not believe.

“I might post a picture of me and a bike,” he says, laughing, before agreeing that maybe it should be a video.

Second season syndrome

There’s little contact with fellow players, even his good buddy Russell. “He’s literally only a stone’s throw from my house, so normally one of us would walk over to the other’s house in the evening for a coffee or tea or whatever. Not being able to do the easy sociable things is a little frustrating.”

There’s also the distance from family at home in Ireland and Spain.

Elvira’s parents live in a village outside Madrid. “They’re not in the mix too much. I think there was one case in their village so they’re sticking to the protocols as well and staying relatively safe. But she does miss them at times, and that would be the big downside, being away from the family.”

Zebo’s sister, Jessika, has two kids (Theo and Lilly) of similar age to Jacob and Sofia, and lives in Midleton. But his parents, Linda and Arthur, are confined to Face Time with all their grandchildren.

From afar it might seem as if Zebo has suffered something of a second-season syndrome after a prolific first campaign and he admits it has been “stop-start”. Concussion, illness and a broken metatarsal have, in turn, restricted his appearances and he and Russell have started only one game together this season. All he needs is some continuity, one day.

“There’s no fear there. It’s just actually getting healthy and getting myself on the pitch, and yeah, all will be good again.”

‘I got a really nice reception’

The broken metatarsal against Clermont came a week before the return Heineken Cup win over Munster in January. Zebo had played in the hugely entertaining 21-all draw against his native province last November at Thomond Park, a game which was “very difficult” for him.

“It was strange on the pitch because you can see how much it means to your friends and you’re trying to take that away from them. And being a Munsterman I know how much it means to the people. It was very, very tough. I got a really nice reception from the crowd, which meant a lot. They’re the best.”

“Once the game kicked in I tried to focus on the task in hand, and getting the result, and that truly was a game that could have gone either way. It was a strange experience, but one I’ll never forget.”

Racing’s 39-22 win in the return match in January effectively knocked his former province out and secured Racing’s qualification. Although their inability to see off a 14-man Saracens team fighting for their very season had consigned them to an away quarter-final against Clermont, Zebo points out that Racing won at the Stade Michelin at the same stage two years ago (by 28-17).

“None of the French lads fear going there at all. It doesn’t faze them. From a Munster perspective, I know how good Clermont are, and watching them from the outside you think they are world-beaters at home but they wouldn’t have the strongest reputation in France when it comes to knock-out rugby.”

‘You constantly hear of the first star’

Akin to the other bulk suppliers to France’s World Cup, Clermont and Toulouse, Racing lost four of their first five games but had won six of their last seven to rise to third in the Top 14.

For Zebo and Racing, it’s impossible to choose between the cherished Bouclier de Brennus or the Heineken Cup.

“In our gym there are two massive posters of each trophy. Jacky [Lorenzetti], our president, would be very ambitious with regard to winning the Champions Cup for the first time. You constantly hear of the first star, la première étoile, before Champions Cup games. They won the Top 14 in 2016, and you always hear stories about how amazing it was. That’s very much on the radar too. So I wouldn’t say there’s a preference there.”

Zebo admits rugby can be a little lost in the capital, but he tells the story of an away game in Brive when venturing out the evening before a Top 14 game, but everywhere was closed. “We went back to the hotel and asked the French lads and they explained that a Top 14 game at home was that massive. Everything closed up, even the night before the game.”

While he misses it, life under lockdown has its compensations and eventually the old normality will return. Zebo’s 30th birthday a fortnight ago was just another day for him and his family, but he’ll have a big party some day.

“Like, a big, big party,” he says, laughing.