As Munster confirmed the return to the province of Simon Zebo, Wednesday Night Rugby was joined by Keith Wood and Andy Dunne.

Former Munster man Wood believes that the deal is a great fit for all parties.

Zebo returns

"It's great news, a one-year deal, which is an appropriate amount," Wood said.

"He either comes back plays and becomes a senior figure; it'll be interesting to see what he brings back.

"When you get players who have been away and come back, they bring back an awful lot of the things they have learned from it. Also, it isn't too long - a three or four-year contract - so he's coming back and a lot of the young guys can learn from him.

"I think he still has a high level of ambition. I think he's put on weight while he's been out there, he's an awful lot of a bigger man, so he may have to shed a few of those pounds.

"He'll be fighting for his position and I think he'll want to play for Ireland - he's back in the country and if he fits into the plans, I think it is good all round for everybody."

Culture shift

Andy Dunne believes that the move is reminiscent of a period from early in his professional career, at Leinster.

"When Leinster hit a period from around 1999 to the mid-2000s, they weren't quite stagnant but they weren't quite winning things. The likes of Leo Cullen and Shane Jennings went off to Leicester, had a different experience and brought back their experience.

"Someone like Zebo going away from the Munster setup and coming back in, sharing his experience of different environments and cultures, that could be beneficial to that group.

"Munster aren't far away from winning things, they're dead close but not quite making that conversion. It did strike me as a similar type of arrangement to when Shane Jennings and Leo Cullen came back in, and made quite a profound impact on the Leinster culture.

"Maybe Zebo can help in that way in his experiences of being abroad.

Ireland

What of Zebo's chances for Ireland?

"I think he would very much suit the style of play with which we played against England, that high-tempo offload game," said Dunne.

"We hadn't shown a whole lot of [that] and just showed how dangerous and capable we are.

"With Paulie and John Fogarty giving a bit of structure to the set-piece, and Farrell and Catt more committed to chaos and unstructured rugby than Joe Schmidt, the creativity and the unpredictable way and talent that he has got, that suits the style we played against England.

"I would have thought that if he has a good run then he is right back in the frame."

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