Luke Fitzgerald
Encyclopedia
Luke Matthew Fitzgerald (born 13 September 1987) is a Rugby Union
footballer. He currently plays at winger or centre for Leinster
. Having previously studied at Blackrock College
he won two Leinster Schools Senior Cup
s, in 2004 and 2006. He won his first cap for Ireland
in November 2006. Fitzgerald has earned the nickname "Pivot" from Leinster and Irish rugby fans due to his exciting runs and sidesteps from broken play.
speaker, Fitzgerald has a particular interest in the language. He played hurling
at underage level. In Gaelic football
, he is a fan of the Dublin senior football team
. Fitzgerald's father Des also played international rugby for Ireland, earning 34 caps at prop between 1984 and 1992.
in the final.
He was the 2005 Irish Examiner Young Rugby Player of the Year.
After leaving school, Fitzgerald joined renowned south Dublin club Blackrock College RFC, a natural transition from schools to club rugby.
Magners League squad. He scored his first try for the province against Edinburgh in the Heineken Cup, having come on as a substitute in a game Leinster ultimately lost 25–24. Fitzgerald was part of the Leinster team who beat Leicester Tigers
(19–16) to win the 2008–09 Heineken Cup.
. In doing so, he became the youngest player to play for Ireland in 29 years. He also became the 999th player to be capped for Ireland . Fitzgerald is regarded as an excellent player for Ireland's future and his progress will be carefully monitored by his coach Joe Schmidt
at Leinster.
After much public demand Fitzgerald was finally given a chance in the centre during Ireland's recent match with the Barbarians . He had a fine game putting in a lot of tackles, notably on Lesley Vainikolo
. He was due to earn a second cap in the centre against the All Blacks. His centre partner would have been Brian O'Driscoll
. He was forced to withdraw from this match due to an ankle injury. He was a member of the victorious Ireland team that won the 2009 Six Nations Championship
and Grand Slam where he played on the wing and started every game.
On 21 April 2009, Fitzgerald was named as a member of the British and Irish Lions
for the 2009 tour to South Africa
and made his test debut on 27 June against South Africa, during which he was eye-gouged
by Schalk Burger
. Burger was yellow-carded for the incident, and was subsequently banned for eight weeks for "making contact with the face in the eye area." He was however cleared of gouging, as his action was found to be "reckless" but not intentional.
Fitzgerald believes Burger should have been sent off for gouging his eyes, "I went into the ruck, got cleaned out and felt a hand going for my eyes,"Given the seriousness of the allegations... you would have to say it was probably a red card."
In November 2009, Fitzgerald was injured in Ireland's game against Australia
, forcing him out for the rest of the season. He returned from injury at the beginning of the 2010/11 season to start at fullback for Leinster in their first preseason match against London Wasps Rugby Club.
Luke Fitzgerald was not included in the Irish team squad for RWC 2011 on 22 August.
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
footballer. He currently plays at winger or centre for Leinster
Leinster Rugby
Leinster Rugby, usually referred to simply as Leinster, is an Irish professional rugby union team based in Dublin, representing the Irish province of Leinster, that competes in the RaboDirect Pro 12 and also competes in the Heineken Cup...
. Having previously studied at Blackrock College
Blackrock College
Blackrock College is a Catholic voluntary secondary school for boys aged 14–18, located in Williamstown, Blackrock, County Dublin, Ireland. The College was founded by French missionaries in 1860, to act as a school and civil service training centre. Set in of grounds, it has an illustrious...
he won two Leinster Schools Senior Cup
Leinster Schools Senior Cup
The Leinster Schools Senior Challenge Cup is the premier rugby union competition for secondary schools affiliated to the Leinster Branch of the IRFU. First held in 1887, the Cup celebrated its 120th anniversary in 2007....
s, in 2004 and 2006. He won his first cap for Ireland
Ireland national rugby union team
The Ireland national rugby union team represents the island of Ireland in rugby union. The team competes annually in the Six Nations Championship and every four years in the Rugby World Cup, where they reached the quarter-final stage in all but two competitions The Ireland national rugby union...
in November 2006. Fitzgerald has earned the nickname "Pivot" from Leinster and Irish rugby fans due to his exciting runs and sidesteps from broken play.
Family and personal life
An IrishIrish language
Irish , also known as Irish Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family, originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish people. Irish is now spoken as a first language by a minority of Irish people, as well as being a second language of a larger proportion of...
speaker, Fitzgerald has a particular interest in the language. He played hurling
Hurling
Hurling is an outdoor team game of ancient Gaelic origin, administered by the Gaelic Athletic Association, and played with sticks called hurleys and a ball called a sliotar. Hurling is the national game of Ireland. The game has prehistoric origins, has been played for at least 3,000 years, and...
at underage level. In Gaelic football
Gaelic football
Gaelic football , commonly referred to as "football" or "Gaelic", or "Gah" is a form of football played mainly in Ireland...
, he is a fan of the Dublin senior football team
Dublin GAA
Dublin County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association , or Dublin GAA, is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Dublin. The county board is also responsible for the Dublin inter-county teams...
. Fitzgerald's father Des also played international rugby for Ireland, earning 34 caps at prop between 1984 and 1992.
Schools rugby
Fitzgerald played for the Blackrock College Senior Cup Team from 2004–2006, winning two Leinster Senior Cup Medals, in 2004 and 2006. He also won a Leinster Junior Cup Medal in 2003, beating Gonzaga CollegeGonzaga College
Gonzaga College is a private Roman Catholic boys' secondary school in Ranelagh, Dublin, Ireland , under the trusteeship of the Society of Jesus . Founded in 1950, the curriculum is traditional, with a broad general programme of subjects including Latin and Greek at junior cycle and the opportunity...
in the final.
He was the 2005 Irish Examiner Young Rugby Player of the Year.
After leaving school, Fitzgerald joined renowned south Dublin club Blackrock College RFC, a natural transition from schools to club rugby.
Representative rugby
Fitzgerald played four matches for the Leinster Schools' Representative team. In his fifth year Fitzgerald played three games for the Irish Schools team. While in his final year he played three matches for the Leinster Under 19's, all as Captain. He also won the Irish Examiner Young Player of the Year for the 2005/06 season.Provincial
After leaving school Fitzgerald has become a regular in the LeinsterLeinster Rugby
Leinster Rugby, usually referred to simply as Leinster, is an Irish professional rugby union team based in Dublin, representing the Irish province of Leinster, that competes in the RaboDirect Pro 12 and also competes in the Heineken Cup...
Magners League squad. He scored his first try for the province against Edinburgh in the Heineken Cup, having come on as a substitute in a game Leinster ultimately lost 25–24. Fitzgerald was part of the Leinster team who beat Leicester Tigers
Leicester Tigers
Leicester Tigers is an English rugby union club that plays in the Aviva Premiership.Leicester are the most successful English club since the introduction of league rugby in 1987, a record 9 times English champions - 3 more than either Bath or Wasps, the last of which was in 2010...
(19–16) to win the 2008–09 Heineken Cup.
International
In October 2006 he was named in the Ireland squad for the Autumn series of internationals. After a strong performance against the 'Mid Week Wallabies" playing for Ireland A he won his first cap on 26 November 2006 against the Pacific IslandsPacific Islanders rugby union team
The Pacific Islanders rugby union team is an international rugby union team, started in 2004, that represents Fiji, Samoa and Tonga. While Niue and the Cook Islands are not members of the Pacific Tri-Nations competition, they did supply players to the squad for the Pacific Islanders' tour in 2004...
. In doing so, he became the youngest player to play for Ireland in 29 years. He also became the 999th player to be capped for Ireland . Fitzgerald is regarded as an excellent player for Ireland's future and his progress will be carefully monitored by his coach Joe Schmidt
Joe Schmidt
Joseph Paul Schmidt is a former American football player and coach at both the collegiate and professional levels. His 13-year career with the National Football League's Detroit Lions gained him a place in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1973.-Collegiate career:Schmidt grew up in Pittsburgh,...
at Leinster.
After much public demand Fitzgerald was finally given a chance in the centre during Ireland's recent match with the Barbarians . He had a fine game putting in a lot of tackles, notably on Lesley Vainikolo
Lesley Vainikolo
Lesley Vainikolo is a dual code professional rugby football player who currently plays for Gloucester Rugby. He plays on the wing....
. He was due to earn a second cap in the centre against the All Blacks. His centre partner would have been Brian O'Driscoll
Brian O'Driscoll
Brian O'Driscoll is an Irish professional rugby union player. He is the current captain of the Ireland Rugby team and captained Leinster Rugby until the start of 2008 season. He also captained the British and Irish Lions for their 2005 tour of New Zealand...
. He was forced to withdraw from this match due to an ankle injury. He was a member of the victorious Ireland team that won the 2009 Six Nations Championship
2009 Six Nations Championship
The 2009 Six Nations Championship, known as the 2009 RBS 6 Nations because of the tournament's sponsorship by the Royal Bank of Scotland, was the tenth Six Nations Championship, an annual rugby union competition contested by the six major Northern Hemisphere rugby union national teams...
and Grand Slam where he played on the wing and started every game.
On 21 April 2009, Fitzgerald was named as a member of the British and Irish Lions
British and Irish Lions
The British and Irish Lions is a rugby union team made up of players from England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales...
for the 2009 tour to South Africa
2009 British and Irish Lions tour to South Africa
The 2009 British and Irish Lions Tour to South Africa was an international rugby union tour which took place in South Africa from May to July 2009....
and made his test debut on 27 June against South Africa, during which he was eye-gouged
Eye-gouging
Eye-gouging is the act of pressing or tearing the eye using the fingers, other bodyparts, or instruments. Eye-gouging involves a very high risk of eye injury, such as permanent eye loss. It is disallowed in combat sports, but some self-defense systems teach it...
by Schalk Burger
Schalk Burger
Schalk Burger Jr. is a South African rugby union player. He plays the position of flanker in the Springbok rugby union team.-Father:...
. Burger was yellow-carded for the incident, and was subsequently banned for eight weeks for "making contact with the face in the eye area." He was however cleared of gouging, as his action was found to be "reckless" but not intentional.
Fitzgerald believes Burger should have been sent off for gouging his eyes, "I went into the ruck, got cleaned out and felt a hand going for my eyes,"Given the seriousness of the allegations... you would have to say it was probably a red card."
In November 2009, Fitzgerald was injured in Ireland's game against Australia
Australia national rugby union team
The Australian national rugby union team is the representative side of Australia in rugby union. The national team is nicknamed the Wallabies and competes annually with New Zealand and South Africa in the Tri-Nations Series, in which they also contest the Bledisloe Cup with New Zealand and the...
, forcing him out for the rest of the season. He returned from injury at the beginning of the 2010/11 season to start at fullback for Leinster in their first preseason match against London Wasps Rugby Club.
Luke Fitzgerald was not included in the Irish team squad for RWC 2011 on 22 August.