Luke Fitzgerald
| Height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Weight | 14 st 2 lb (90 kg) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| School | Blackrock College | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| University | University College Dublin | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Occupation(s) | Student | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Luke 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 Cups, in 2004 and 2006, but losing to Belvedere College in 2005. He won his first cap for Ireland in November 2006. He is currently studying in University College Dublin. Luke has earned the nickname "Pivot" from Leinster and Irish rugby fans due to his exciting runs and sidesteps from broken play.
Schools Rugby
Luke 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 a brave St. Andrew's College in the final, a feat Fitzgerald has mentioned as being, "the most demanding game of my career so far".
He was the 2005 Irish Examiner Young Rugby Player of the Year.
Representative Rugby
Luke 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.
Professional Rugby
Provincial
After leaving school Fitzgerald has become a regular in the Leinster 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. The distinctive cheer of 'Luke' with an extended and stressed "u" (resulting in many visiting fans believing that the Leinster home support are booing the young athlete) has since been transferred to the world of golf through the support of Luke Donald.
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 November 26 2006 against the Pacific Islands.[1] 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 .[2] Fitzgerald is regarded as an excellent player for Ireland's future [3] and his progress will be carefully monitored by his coach Michael Cheika at Leinster.
His father Des Fitzgerald also played for Ireland.
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 and produced quick hands similar to those of Frederic Michalak or Eoin McDowell . 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. In 2007 he was crowned as most improved player at Fifa 2006, by his fellow Irish teammates whilst on tour. He beat Eoin Reddan 5-2 in the final where he was playing as Liverpool and Reddan was Argentina.