Tenacity and patience finally paying off for Luke Fitzgerald

There's Luke Fitzgerald then and there's Luke Fitzgerald now. The pre-seasons and seasons have changed him. The tough selections have changed him. Injuries have changed him. Time has changed him.

In Guildford three days before Ireland face a pool defining match against Italy there's a tougher carapace, a more sober Fitzgerald. It is what's left, what has emerged from a period where his body was shattered so badly he checked his insurance details for a life outside the game.

But the new Fitzgerald has also shed some of the mental flab he might have once carried. The hardship has equipped him for life under a flinty coach and in the harem-scarem world of selections and positions, he has become less fearful, more hard-boiled and probably less idealistic.

Have you had any special messages, he is asked. “No,” he says, a shake of the head.

Did you know you were going to be selected for the game against Canada, he is asked. "No, I didn't get selected. A guy got injured and I got in," he says unashamedly facing up to Joe Schmidt's initial rejection. No bother. "I think I've had my fair share of bad luck," he adds. "I was happy to accept a bit of good luck."

Italy is around the corner but Schmidt plays hard ball with his players. If Fitzgerald doesn’t perform in training, Schmidt doesn’t pick him. If he doesn’t perform in a match, Schmidt doesn’t pick him. If his face doesn’t fit Schmidt, doesn’t pick him. It could wear a player down.

But Fitzgerald doesn’t want to, can’t be, defined by his past struggle with a spate of mystifying injuries. Yet it’s part of him and has made him what he has become. If that didn’t wear him down, rugby life and team picks won’t.

Instead he believes it has made him better at accepting situations for which he has no control, better to handle adversity, better to stick it out in a team for which he doesn’t know if he’ll be picked, and if he is picked, doesn’t know what position he will play.

Tricky

“Yeah, it’s very difficult. Having to prep to play or possibly play in a lot of different positions, makes it very tricky to be a master of any one,” he says.

Luck is a word he doesn't warm to. Picked to play against Scotland this year, it was his first game with Ireland since November 2013 and by that time he had set the target for London.

Lucky to be here then?

“It was the goal,” he says. “I think it was definitely in the back of my mind at the start of last season when I was struggling a lot.

“I couldn’t really figure out that groin problem. Once I got that sorted it was obviously all back on the cards. But I was pretty close to calling it a day.

“I had four injuries which took me over six months. Two of which happened to be a 10-month injury as it turned out. I was doing the wrong rehab for a long time. It was very frustrating. I find it pretty hard to say that I’m lucky to be here ... I’ve worked very hard.”

The question was badly phrased. Luck has never been part of his story. More tenacity and patience and a blinkered belief that it would work out. But looking forward, he is finished with injury talk.

Journey

“Given the journey that’s gone before, it’s a pretty fair comment to say it’s been a triumph. Yeah, yeah, definitely agree with that,” he says.

“I think it’s a pretty big achievement to have gotten here. I’m pretty happy to be here although you always want to be playing every minute of every game.”

It’s where he finds himself now in a week where little is given away – on the cusp of playing in Schmidt’s first-pick side. He says Schmidt has not yet told them who will play. But form at training is an important influence. “Definitely with this coach training every day has a big bearing on who is going to be selected,” he says.

“It’s probably a good position to be in because it keeps everyone sharp. Training levels are very high,” he says.

Still, there's a confusion of possibilities. Keith Earls, Simon Zebo and Tommy Bowe have warmed to the challenge. Robbie Henshaw has yet to play again but must soon and Jared Payne didn't train on Wednesday. Rob Kearney limped off against Romania and has been struggling. This week doors have opened and closed. Whatever way it breaks Fitzgerald is prepared.

“The journey shapes a lot of your mind set,” he says. “I feel like you have an advantage in that if I do get setbacks, mentally I know I can come back, things that seem maybe insurmountable to some people.

“I feel that’s a big advantage. I have my own belief in myself, what I’m capable of and what I bring to the table. They are strong things to have in the squad. I feel like I’m a guy you want to have in a tough situation in a game. I’m physically very committed.”

Weathered, dauntless, the Luke Fitzgerald now.