Injury has stopped British & Irish Lion Simon Zebo from kicking on in an Ireland shirt but the wing wizard insists he won’t let his opportunity slip in Argentina.
Zebo was called up as injury cover for compatriot Tommy Bowe for the Lions last summer – but the 24-year-old has had his own setbacks to deal with this season.
A cracked foot bone sustained in October last year spoiled much of his campaign before he picked up an ankle niggle in Munster’s loss to Glasgow Warriors last month.
But after Ireland coach Joe Schmidt inserted him straight into the starting line-up for the first Test win against Argentina on Saturday, Zebo is confident he can return to his eye-catching best.
“It’s always a pleasure and an honour to get to wear the green jersey and I was just grateful that I had got the chance to get back and play,” Zebo said.
“It’s been a while through injury and other things that I’ve been out. To come back and get in the shirt and get a win as well has been special.
“It’s always going to be tough with the competition we have. There are some world-class operators in the back-three department for us and we’re blessed to have that.
“Competition drives players on to perform even better so it’s better for the squad as a whole.
“Hopefully the strong competition drives me on and drives all our other players on, and come the World Cup and the Six Nations we’ll have a very, very strong squad, plenty of strength in depth to operate with.”
