Rugby:Luke Fitzgerald looks set to be sidelined for at least another six months after undergoing surgery on his shoulder. The Leinster winger will be out for between 26-30 weeks and will not be offered a new centralised contract by the IRFU.
Instead, Leinster are hoping to negotiate a new deal for their utility back to keep him with the province. Fitzgerald had been thought to have a number of overseas options on the table but, considering his latest injury setback, it would appear likely he will remain with Leinster.
Fitzgerald’s negotiations with the IRFU broke down at the end of last season with the union understood to have proposed a cut in salary from 280,000 to €200,000 to re-sign for another two years. That offer was subsequently withdrawn but Leinster have always been hopeful the 24-year-old would stay in Dublin.
The past 18 months have been difficult for the former Blackrock College schoolboy, capped 23 times for Ireland since his debut in 2006. Having returned from a serious knee injury, Declan Kidney picked him at fullback in the 2011 Six Nations, as Rob Kearney and Geordan Murphy were both unavailable. That experiment failed with Kidney dropping him from the starting XV before selecting Fergus McFadden and Felix Jones ahead of him in the World Cup squad.
Fitzgerald immediately returned to provincial colours, where Schmidt employed him at inside centre when D’Arcy and McFadden were in New Zealand. On their return he played mainly on the left wing and was playing well again until a neck problem in December scuppered any chances of an international recall.
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