John O'Sullivantalks to Luke Fitzgerald about his international rise as he prepares for a date with the old enemy

LUKE FITZGERALD doesn’t seek refuge in ageism. At 21 years of age some players might be tempted to use youth and inexperience to soften the critical glare. Ireland’s left wing doesn’t want any special treatment in that regard, a refreshing attitude that offers a partial explanation as to why he is currently thriving in the Test arena.

A gifted schoolboy, his talent was never in question, but the process of graduating from underage rugby to the senior ranks demands a toll: usually time in terms of the varying challenges, both physical and mental. Fitzgerald approached the transition with a singular focus, accepting the bumps and bruises but at no stage hiding behind his youth. It’s a stance that has underpinned his progress. A brace of tries in Rome in his ninth cap for Ireland is the most obvious example of the increasing influence he enjoys in a national team context.

There are others though, his improved defence, his lines of running, his balance and footwork in human traffic and an ability to identify and process opportunities. Last season at Twickenham England handed Ireland a tidy beating. The two countries meet again on Saturday week.

Fitzgerald doesn’t think either team will be thumbing recent history as a motivational tool. Twickenham didn’t scar him as a player.

“It didn’t faze me. Any young guy who has any aspirations of going further in rugby, those are the occasions you want to play in. I don’t see why you should be shackled by fear.

“It’s much more important to relish those occasions and feed off the energy you get.”

He is equally adamant that the 2007 Croke Park game won’t be a primary factor in determining Saturday week’s outcome. “I was at the game fortunately, it was fantastic, a great day out. We’ll be trying to forget that [result] and they . . . I don’t know, maybe they’ll be trying to use it as motivation.

“I don’t think there’s any need for extra motivation in an international match, but I suppose it couldn’t harm them anyway. I don’t think it will be brought up within the [Ireland] squad. It’s done and dusted now. An awful lot has changed in those two years.

“There’s a huge amount of personnel changes in both camps so I don’t think it will be very relevant. You have to take each game on its own merits and I think that’s what both squads will do. Any time you pull on an international jersey, you’re going to be very motivated and you’re going to play with a massive amount of passion and pride. I don’t think it’s going to be diminished just because of a big win that we had two years ago.”

On a personal level Fitzgerald’s influence on matches for Leinster and Ireland has become more appreciable as the season has evolved. “To be honest, I still feel I’ve a long way to go in terms of being the finished article. I still feel I have an awful lot of improving to do and an awful lot of developing as a player.

“I think that it’s going well enough this season, but there is room for improvement. I suppose the tough thing now is to try and maintain current form and try and build on that as well.”

One person who’s accelerated that development is Ireland’s defence coach Les Kiss. Fitzgerald, who topped Ireland’s tackle count chart against France, enthuses: “I think he’s fantastic. He’s brought so much to the set-up. Defence is his main area and he’s been brilliant for us there.

“He has an awful lot of new ideas and new thoughts on how to stop teams breaking us down and he actually has a few interesting things to say in terms of attack as well.

“I’ve definitely seen a big improvement myself in the last year in terms of what I can add to the team defensively. That was one of the areas that I’d marked out where I needed to improve.

“I never thought there was a lack of intent there. I just thought that technique and stuff needed to be improved. I’m happy with how I’m progressing on that side of things.

“Les has had a big impact on me in terms of my thought process and my technique going into tackles as well,” he says.

His thoughts offer a snapshot of the clarity of purpose between Irish management and players. While Fitzgerald felt that some of the criticism of the performances in the November Test series was harsh, a series of meetings in December crystallised the direction in which the team should head.

“I don’t think that there was a total understanding of what the coaches were trying to get across to us in terms of how they wanted us to do things in certain areas of the park. I’m not too sure, too, if they understood how we wanted to play the game. I think it’s very important to have that understanding. We’ve built that with that extra time we’ve had.

“We didn’t do much on the pitch, just had an awful lot of meetings [at Christmas] and it kind of cleared the air. I thought we came out of those meetings with an awful lot of focus and an understanding of what we wanted to achieve on the pitch – from both perspectives. I think that’s really helped us.”

The evidence has been compelling so far.