Stephen Fitzgerald (born 13 November 1995) is an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

former

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

player, who played for his native province

Munster Munster ( gle, an Mhumhain or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the south of Ireland. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" ( ga, rí ruirech). Following the ...

and

Connacht Connacht ( ; ga, Connachta or ), is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms (Uí Fiachrach, Uí Briúin, Uí Maine, Conmhaícne, and Delbhn ...

during his career. Fitzgerald played primarily as a

fullback Fullback or Full back may refer to: Sports * A position in various kinds of football, including: ** Full-back (association football), in association football (soccer), a defender playing in a wide position ** Fullback (gridiron football), in Americ ...

, but could also play on either

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expres ...

, and represented Shannon in the All-Ireland League.

Early life

Born in

Ardnacrusha Ardnacrusha ( ga, Ard na Croise) is a village in County Clare, Munster, Ireland, located on the northern bank of the River Shannon. By road, it is north of Limerick. The name derives from the phrase ''Ard na Croise'' meaning "the height of t ...

County Clare County Clare ( ga, Contae an Chláir) is a county in Ireland, in the Southern Region and the province of Munster, bordered on the west by the Atlantic Ocean. Clare County Council is the local authority. The county had a population of 118,817 ...

, Fitzgerald first began playing rugby aged 7 with Shannon. He attended

Ardscoil Rís, Limerick Ardscoil Rís is a voluntary, all-boys, Roman Catholic secondary school in Limerick, Ireland. Located on the North Circular Road, its catchment area includes neighbourhoods on the northside of Limerick such as Caherdavin, Mayorstone and Clarevie ...

and lost finals at both

Junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * ''Junior'' (Junior Mance album), 1959 * ''Junior'' (Röyksopp album), 2009 * ''Junior'' (Kaki King album), 2010 * ''Junior'' (LaFontaines album), 2019 Films * ''Junior'' (1994 ...

and

Senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

Cup level with the school. He represented Munster in all under-age grades, as well as playing Under-19s and Under-20s with Ireland.

Professional career

Munster

Fitzgerald made his debut for Munster on 13 September 2015, starting in the second game of the

2015–16 Pro12 The 2015–16 Pro12 (also known as the ''Guinness Pro12'' for sponsorship reasons) was the fifteenth season of the professional rugby union competition originally known as the Celtic League, and the sixth with its current four-country format. it ...

against

Ospreys The osprey (''Pandion haliaetus''), , also called sea hawk, river hawk, and fish hawk, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey with a cosmopolitan range. It is a large raptor reaching more than in length and across the wings. It is brown o ...

and scoring a try. On 1 June 2017, it was announced that Fitzgerald had been promoted to the senior Munster squad ahead of the 2017–18 season. He signed a one-year development contract extension with Munster in February 2018.

Bond University

Having been injured for much of the 2016–17 season, Fitzgerald and then-fellow Munster Academy teammate JP Phelan played for Australian side

Bond University Rugby Club The Bond University Rugby Club is an Australian rugby union football club that competes in the Queensland Premier Rugby competition. The club is based at the Bond University campus on Queensland's Gold Coast. Bond University entered into a part ...

in the

Queensland Premier Rugby Queensland Premier Rugby is a semi professional club rugby union competition in Queensland, Australia. Nine clubs play in the competition, eight of which are from Brisbane with one club from the Gold Coast. The premiership has been contested ...

competition. He made one appearance for the side, in round 10 against Sunnybank, but injured his hand and returned home soon after.

Connacht

Fitzgerald joined Irish province

, where his younger brother

Conor Conor is a male given name of Irish origin. The meaning of the name is "Lover of Wolves" or "Lover of Hounds". '' Conchobhar/Conchubhar'' or from the name ''Conaire'', found in Irish legend as the name of the high king Conaire Mór and other hero ...

was an academy player at the time, on a three-month loan deal in December 2018. He made his debut for Connacht in their 21–12 win against

Ulster Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United King ...

in round 12 of the

2018–19 Pro14 The 2018–19 Pro14 (also known as the '' Guinness Pro14'' for sponsorship reasons) is the eighteenth season of the professional rugby union competition originally known as the Celtic League. It was the second season to be referred to as the ''Pr ...

on 28 December 2018, replacing

Kyle Godwin Kyle Godwin (born 30 July 1992) is a Zimbabwean born Australian rugby union footballer. His regular playing position is centre. He currently represents Western Force in Super Rugby AU. Godwin was part of the Australia under 20 team that comp ...

in the 63rd minute. Fitzgerald's loan was extended until the end of the 2018–19 season in March 2019. Fitzgerald joined Connacht permanently for the 2019–20 season.

Retirement

A knee injury sustained in Connacht's fixture against

Leinster Leinster ( ; ga, Laighin or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, situated in the southeast and east of Ireland. The province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige. Following the 12th-century Norman invasion of Ir ...

in January 2020, for which Fitzgerald underwent three surgeries, forced Fitzgerald to retire from playing rugby at the end of the 2020–21 season.

Ireland

Fitzgerald made his debut for Ireland Under-20s on 13 February 2015, starting against France Under-20s in the 2015 U20 Six Nations and scoring a try. He also represented Ireland Under-20s at the

2015 World Rugby Under 20 Championship The 2015 World Rugby Under 20 Championship was the eighth annual international rugby union competition for Under 20 national teams. The event was organised for the second time in Italy by rugby's governing body, World Rugby. Twelve nations played i ...

, scoring two tries against Scotland Under-20s on 20 June 2015.

References

External links

Connacht ProfileMunster ProfilePro14 Profile
*
U20 Six Nations Profile
Living people 1995 births People educated at Ardscoil Rís, Limerick Alumni of the University of Limerick Irish rugby union players Rugby union players from County Clare Shannon RFC players Munster Rugby players Connacht Rugby players Rugby union fullbacks Rugby union wings {{ireland-rugbyunion-bio-stub