Fitzgerald points to positives in fullback role and team's response

AFTER MATCH REACTION:FOR LUKE Fitzgerald, Saturday in Rome was almost like a first cap. He's never made any secret of his preference for playing at fullback and while he had worn the Ireland number 15 jersey before, against Samoa last November, this was his first Six Nations start at fullback.

By his own admission after the game, his form going into the match hadn’t been ideal and he had been more nervous than normal.

“I think expectations were pretty low, which was tough at times, but I thought it was a really big opportunity for me. So I was a little bit more nervous I must admit, I didn’t have a very comfy sleep. I was tossing and turning but thankfully did a pretty good job I think so it would be good to get a few more games, build up a bit of momentum.

“You know I was delighted to get picked there, obviously I hadn’t been coming into the Six Nations with great form, I obviously had a few bad injuries on the way in. But to be honest I was happy with my performance, I did do what was asked of me and I did do the simple things well enough which was important for me to do, so hopefully I’ll get in again next week.”

Adding to the occasion was the presence of kindred spirits Keith Earls and Fergus McFadden on the wing. Although Earls showed more across the line and more action came his way than McFadden, they both would probably have felt a little more frustrated with the way things panned out, and Fitzgerald would also like to think there’s more to come from them as a trio.

“It was great for Fergus to be involved and to win his first cap, he’s a good mate of mine and a good buddy at Leinster. It was great to see him do well. And obviously Earlsy as well, I’ve been friendly with him for a long time. So it was great, we really enjoyed playing with each other and I hope we’ll get another opportunity to do so in the next couple of weeks and get more used to each other, and to play a bit more.”

Like everyone watching, Fitzgerald had mixed feelings about the Irish performance, though perhaps remained more positive than most.

“First of all there was a big sigh of relief from everyone. We obviously put ourselves under a bit more pressure than we would have liked. But I think there are an awful lot of positives to take from that in that we got ourselves together well, we gathered ourselves on our own line and there was no panic. I thought we did really well to get ourselves into drop-goal range and the rest is history, Rog (Ronan O’Gara) did a great job and we managed to hang on in the end.

“My first impression of the game is that we created an awful lot of opportunities,” he added, “but we just weren’t clinical which is disappointing because I think it will probably heap the pressure on us for next week. But sure look, I think as we get more comfortable with each other – we’ve had a two- or three-month lay-off and combinations need time to get used to each other. So hopefully we can improve that and be more clinical next week.”

“I think we were trying to create more width and at times we did that, we put them under pressure and I think it’s just unfortunate our handling let us down in the wide channels and we didn’t take advantage of the opportunities we create. Our (attacking) shape probably was better or probably everyone’s getting that bit more comfortable and there’s a better understanding as a squad as to what we’re trying to achieve. So that was definitely a positive to take out of the game.”