Six Nations 2013: life in Ireland has a winning beat for speedy Simon Zebo "With the French background, speaking French and having family over in France, it was a tough to turn down," recalls Zebo, who scored a classy hat-trick of tries for Munster against Racing Metro last week to book their Heineken Cup place. But at the moment there's a great crop of players at Munster. I'm playing with my best friends and I'm just really loving my rugby. I want to win trophies with them, it's brilliant. The approach from Toulouse was flattering, of course it was, but my love for Munster came through, and especially if I've aspirations of playing for Ireland. I don't want anything to hamper my opportunities to play for my country. Zebo is the son of an international class 800-metre runner in father Arthur, who was set to run for Martinique at the 1976 Olympics in Montreal before breaking a leg. Arthur had travelled to Paris when he was 19 to undertake French military service and after meeting his wife to be, Lynda, from Cork, moved to Ireland. The couple's daughter, Jessika, was a 400m runner for Ireland looking to qualify for London 2012 when she too was struck down with a serious leg injury. Speed runs in the family. "As you have probably noticed I like to run with the ball and attack but I've been trying to work a lot on my defence," continues 22-year-old Zebo. It was really reassuring that things went OK at full-back in the November Tests and to score my first try for my country is something I'll never forget, especially in front of a home crowd. That's stuck in the memory bank forever. Ireland's strength in depth in the back three is almost verging on the ridiculous at present and the competition is a massive motivation for all concerned and something of a headache for coach Declan Kidney. Somewhere though you sense that Zebo has to be involved. Now is his time. A left wing by preference Zebo has also got a mule-like kick and is athletic and safe under the high ball so it was no surprise that he looked to the manor born at full-back in the autumn internationals when he deputised for Rob Kearney, who had undergone back surgery. Ulster's young wing Craig Gilroy also seized his chance with both hands with a man-of-the-match performance against Argentina and now with Kearney and Luke Fitzgerald back and the powerful Andrew Trimble also in the equation, it is a case of pouring a quart into a pint pot. And that is not taking into account Tommy Bowe, who is missing after a knee operation. Kidney is determined to somehow activate that firepower in this year's Six Nations Championship. "I've always been a believer that you look at the players you have and come up with the game plan that best suits them," Kidney said. You need to ask players to do what comes naturally to them in the most demanding of atmospheres in a Test game. We need to evolve our own game so they can show themselves to best effect. Experienced observers of the Ireland coach will know that is Kidney-talk for "look out for fireworks behind the scrum." Let us hope so.