Easterby backs Fitzgerald to ultimately step into O’Driscoll’s shoes

Guy Easterby believes Luke Fitzgerald is a front-runner to take over the fabled number 13 jersey for club and country when Brian O’Driscoll finally calls time on his playing days next May.

It is seven years now since Fitzgerald made his senior Test debut, against the Pacific Islands, and he has since delivered superb performances for his club, his country and, in 2009, the British and Irish Lions.

Yet he has suffered a litany of long-term injuries that have hurt his career to such an extent that he has still to make a World Cup squad and missed out on some big club days such as the 2012 Heineken Cup final.