Cool Head Luke ready for next step with Ireland
Nevertheless, for Eddie O’Sullivan, this game offered him the perfect opportunity to blood a few young men.
Brian Ashton has picked the brash new pin-up boy of English rugby, Danny Cipriani, to play out half chess with arguably the No 10 of the Six Nations, Ronan O’Gara.
On the Irish side, Luke Fitzgerald waits for an injury update on Geordan Murphy to discover whether he’ll be making his first Six Nations start on the back of a stirring late second-half cameo against Wales. The 20-year-old tyro may get his chance should Murphy fail to recover from an achilles injury, and a backline reshuffle would see Rob Kearney return to fullback and Fitzgerald start on the left wing.
At Blackrock College, Fitzgerald was marked out for greatness, and such were his prodigious talents that Michael Cheika handed him a first Leinster start in a friendly against Dax in August 2006, on the day he collected his Leaving Certificate results.
Three months later, Fitzgerald became the youngest Irish player in 30 years to represent his country when he capped against Pacific Islands.
The son of former Ireland prop, Des, Luke — like his sparring partner for the left wing/ full back positions with both province and country, Kearney — has developed and matured nicely this season.
However the tantalising possibility that he might still make the Twickenham clash doesn’t affect his preparations. He aims to be in the right place mentally if the call comes, the work of sports psychologist Enda McNulty doing wonders, he says, for inner strength and self confidence.
“I’m delighted to be included in any Irish squad. Obviously it would be great to be on the pitch. There’s still the opportunity even if I’m on the bench that I might get on, so I’m going to stay optimistic.
“I think you’ve got to prepare during the week like you’re going to playing — so I don’t foresee any difference in how I will approach the game or how I play the game if I’m involved.”
For someone who cites Christian Cullen as his greatest inspiration it comes as no surprise that fullback is his favoured position. Currently, it is the most competitive position on the team. If the Girvan/Geordan debate has, at times, divided a nation, expect the Kearney/Fitzgerald argument to sound just as loud in the coming years.
“I think I’m most comfortable at fullback,” admits Fitzgerald who like Kearney is a former Irish Examiner National Junior Sports Star winner.
“But no matter what position Eddie decides to pick me in, I’ll be delighted to give it my all. There are so many good players vying for the position and it’s tough at the moment.”
Fitzgerald says the number of fullbacks in the Ireland squad is down to the wonders of Gaelic football, which has given all contenders the necessary skills to survive in the zone. As a kid, Luke lined out for Douglas GAA in Cork before moving back to Dublin where Naomh Olaf in Sandyford became his new home in his early teens. He was a recognised scoring forward.
“It seems a lot of guys like myself, Rob, Geordy and Tommy (Bowe) come from a GAA background. The skills you pick up from Gaelic football really apply to that position on the field. And I’d say that’s probably why we have so many fullbacks.
“I’m not totally stuck on the position — as I said I’d be delighted to play anywhere for the team. I feel that’s my most natural position, but I’d play anywhere.”
A levelled-headed young man who tries to fit in study for a BA degree in history and philosophy at UCD between professional rugby, Fitzgerald always turns to his father for words of guidance. “Rugby comes up a bit. I’ve discussed obviously my 10 minutes on the pitch against Wales. Growing up I’ve really valued his opinion. It’s all we talk about, that is when he’s not giving out to me about my exams!
“I’ve a lot of respect for his opinion on the game and we do discuss most things.
“He played prop but I think he likes to think of himself as having a broad understanding of the game. He’s very analytical about the whole thing.”
Another season is just months from passing and as the calls for change at the top grow louder, Fitzgerald is impassive to all the noise being made in the media. He’s in his own zone. “Nothing changes for me. I don’t read the papers. I don’t know what’s being said. I steer clear of all that kind of stuff and just concentrate on my game. It hasn’t really affected me and I haven’t been aware of it (criticism of coaches).”
In terms of his own game, he sees plenty room for improvement. “I still feel there’s massive improvements to be made. I’m continually trying to improve. I’m working a long with Enda McNulty — that’s one of the policies we’re going with in terms of a career-long thing. I think I’m going through a good patch of form here but there’s a long way to go.”
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