It was the biggest selection surprise of the Six Nations campaign. Simon Zebo was dropped in favour of the in from the cold Luke Fitzgerald. Fans debated, and continue to debate, the merits of Joe Schmidt's decision.
Was Zebo being unfairly singled out for the team's performance in Cardiff? Was it about time Fitzgerald was given another chance? Was it merely a case of like for like that would have had no real bearing on the game?
We'll probably never know. Given the overall performance in Murrayfield, Joe Schmidt will probably feel vindicated in his selection but that's probably not much
Asked whether Schmidt's decision hurt him personally, the Munster man was honest in his summation of his feelings.
Yeah, it did I suppose. You can't really say anything to the coaches, it is their decision. It was probably the one game where I probably would have thrived.
It was kind of strange that all the ball seemed to be going out to the wings and I was sitting in the stand.
One of the main arguments from those who had been championing Zebo were that he was doing exactly what was being asked of him. He was repressing his natural flair for the good of the team and, as such, to drop him for the final game was entirely unfair. That's an opinion which, if not outright stated, the 25 year old certainly seems to go along with
I just thought I did everything that was asked of me. It wasn't a tournament where I got loads of ball or got massive opportunities going forward.
Zebo went on to concede that the most important thing is that the Ireland won the Championship, however, you get the sense that it would have been slightly more special had he been in the starting XV for that final game against Scotland.
