Sean Fitzpatrick

Sean Fitzpatrick

Player information
Full name	Sean Brian Thomas Fitzpatrick
birthday	4th January 1963
place of birth	Auckland , New Zealand
society
society	Career ended
position	hooker
Clubs as active
Years	society	Games (points)
	Auckland RFU	127
1996-1997	Blues (Super 14)	25th
National team
Years	National team	Games (points)
1986-1997	New Zealand	92 (60)

Sean Brian Thomas Fitzpatrick , MNZM (born January 4, 1963 in Auckland ) is a former New Zealand rugby union player in the position of hooker . He is considered one of the best players in this country, perhaps comparable to the other big name of the All Blacks , Colin Meads .

Career

As a product of the famous provincial team from Auckland, he made his debut as one of the Baby Blacks (New Zealand U21 national team) in the famous international match against France in 1986. Most of the players in the starting XV were banned for participating in the rebel tour to South Africa , but New Zealand and won a whole range of new players gave impressive performances. However, Fitzpatrick only went to the first Rugby World Cup in 1987 as a replacement for the then captain Andy Dalton . However, he had to withdraw injured after the start of the tournament and so the substitute player was used. He played so well that Dalton was no longer used despite recovering and David Kirk took over the captaincy of the team that defeated France in the final at Eden Park in Auckland.

In the following years, the All Blacks dominated the international rugby scene with star players such as Wayne Shelford , John Kirwan , Michael Jones and Grant Fox . But at the 1991 World Cup , Australia provided a team that could take them on. In the semifinals both teams met on Lansdowne Road in Dublin and the "Wallabies" with David Campese remained the winners.

In the following season, Fitzpatrick took over the captaincy for the first time - and he held this position until he retired from the All Blacks. The joy of a first win over South Africa since their return from the boycott of apartheid and series victories over a world selection and Ireland were dampened by losing the Bledisloe Cup to Australia.

The standout event in the rugby world in 1993 was the British and Irish Lions tour to New Zealand. The All Blacks narrowly won the first game after Grant Fox turned the decisive penalty through the bars. The Lions retaliated by beating New Zealand in their second game with their best performance ever there. Fitzpatrick's team would have been the second All Blacks team to lose a series to the Lions if they had won again. Despite a 10-0 deficit, they won the third game convincingly.

England, however, beat New Zealand at Twickenham Stadium at the end of the year , making up for the Lions' defeat. 1994 was also a divided year for New Zealand. They beat the Springboks of South Africa with 2-0 wins in a draw, but France created a bigger sensation when they beat the Blacks with 2-0 wins.

The next year, for the next World Cup, New Zealand had another great team with players like Ian Jones, Jeff Wilson , Andrew Mehrtens , Zinzan Brooke and the new discovery Jonah Lomu . Many were certain that Fitzpatrick would lift the Webb Ellis Cup into the air at the end of the tournament . New Zealand also reached the final against South Africa as favorites, as the Springboks had struggled to progress, while the All Blacks recorded convincing victories - especially in the semi-finals against England. But Francois Pienaar's team surprised everyone and won in stoppage time with a dropkick from Joel Stransky .

After winning the first Tri Nations in 1996, the All Blacks won an international series in South Africa for the first time. After winning the first two games, Fitzpatrick's team had also achieved this and thus avenged their defeat in the final.

Fitzpatrick continued to win with Auckland in the National Provincial Championship in New Zealand and with the Auckland Blues in the Super 12 , but his long international career was slowly coming to an end. He was injured in the fall of 1997, but coach John Hart called him anyway because of his leadership skills. He played his last international match as a substitute for Wales at Wembley Stadium .

Despite many inquiries, Fitzpatrick has so far refrained from accepting a coaching position and instead works as an expert for the BBC and the TV channel Sky Sports in the UK .

See also

• List of rugby union players with the most international matches

Web links

• Profile Sean Fitzpatricks on www.allblacks.com (English)