THE DAYS OF “fucking manic aggression” sometimes appear to be dying, in professional rugby at least.
Paul O’Connell, the deliverer of those famous words, has spoken about Ireland’s dressing room being a quieter one these days, with individuals more focused on their specific jobs than drawing tears of motivation from their teammates with stirring orations.
The impression increases with every dealing Joe Schmidt’s men have with the media and supporters; all the talk is of the process, the detail. Is there still room for the likes of O’Connell to raise hairs on the back of necks with an impassioned speech?
Luke Fitzgerald – who featured on the left wing against Scotland in this year’s Six Nations triumph and is now part of the extended group preparing for the World Cup – thinks there has been a shift, but underlines that matchday aggression remains essential.
“That’s going to be involved in every Test match, you need to have that fire, no doubt about it,” Fitzgerald told The42. “At the end of the day if you lose the contact in rugby, you lose the game.
So you’re always going to have that kind of intensity, but I think something that’s changed since Joe got involved is probably the real focus on trying to work smart.
“I think one of the big aims of the group is being consistent and that happens by focusing on all the actions and all the little things you do every day, from diet down to scouting opposition, learning the plays. There’s a really big focus on all those things and those details.
“That’s the real aim of the group and why we’ve come a bit more towards that side of things than trying to work crazily hard or that bit of manic aggression. We want to have that when we get into the contact areas, but we want to be smart before all those things happen.
“There probably has been a slight shift, but you still have to have that aggression.”
Fitzgerald feels the mental side of his game is strong, and every conversation with the Leinster man brings a greater understanding of the depth of his belief in his ability as a rugby player.
At the age of 27, he has found an ideal balance between the “fire” and the focus on the technical and tactical details involved in performing at peak levels. With the left wing looking like Fitzgerald’s best bet for a World Cup starting spot, we ask him what he believes the job of a wing in this Ireland team is.
“As a wing, you have to marry a couple of different things,” said Fitzgerald. “You want to get involvements because you’re supposed to be one of the power players on the team.
“You’re not doing all the grunt work and you might not have as many involvements but you want to make sure they’re all really accurate, that the bits you do are big bursts into the game and make a big difference to the team in terms of getting momentum.
Maybe it’s a high ball or a big carry, but you want to make sure those involvements are good.”
Those telling contributions from Fitzgerald as a ‘power player’ usually come in the form of his lightning footwork and darting pace, as well as the ability to find teammates on his shoulder when the initial bust is made.
The memory of a handful of links with Robbie Henshaw against Scotland in that Six Nations clincher are exciting ahead of the World Cup, although Fitzgerald stresses that a wing must be patient in putting their mark on the game.
“You have to marry it with not being over eager and not getting too involved, because there’s a big job for guys out wide in creating shape and width for the team,” said Fitzgerald. “You have that in every team, not just Ireland or Leinster.
“Trying to balance those two, where you’re having involvements in different areas of the pitch but also there are the times where you’ve got to be patient and create width for the team so that guys on the inside are going to get one-on-one opportunities when the other team is going to match up.
“If everyone’s tight, they’ll be tight in defence and get two-man hits, these things that mean you can’t dominate the contact. You’ve got a big job in that respect. You’re trying to do things off the ball that are helping other guys everywhere else on the pitch.”
The role of the wing as a truly physical component of the team has been popularised publicly in the last two years, partly due to Schmidt’s insistence that his wide men never shirk core duties such as chasing kicks and hitting rucks.
Long gone is the era where a wing was a pure finisher, someone whose attacking quality could excuse physical, defensive and ruck-related weaknesses. Fitzgerald says he has held that viewpoint throughout his career, rather than having converted to it under Schmidt.
Having 34-times capped Ireland prop Des Fitzgerald as his father has been useful, while Leinster coaches Mike Brewer and Kurt McQuilkin – the latter now back with Leinster as defence coach – made an impact.
It’s always a side of the game that I’ve focused on since I came into Leinster as a young guy,” said Fitzgerald. “I was very lucky to be exposed to Mike, who was great for my technique rucking-wise.
“I would also have always had a good grounding from my dad in terms of going into contact and in terms of body height; I possibly had an advantage over other kids in that respect because he was big on that.
“They were big influences on me early doors and then Kurt, who is just back in Leinster, was fantastic for my defence. He’s worked with guys like Shane Jennings, Jamie Heaslip, Kev McLaughlin: all guys who are really good defensively. We would have done an awful lot of individual work with Kurt.”
What specifically?
“Technical stuff, things like working on footwork, working on hand position,” said Fitzgerald. “He had a couple of great drills that helped you develop your reading of the game defensively.
“Fergus McFadden would be another one who really would have liked Kurt’s way of thinking on those things. I’d consider myself a good player defensively in terms of making good decisions and actually in the contact area. I’d attribute a lot of that to Kurt.
I suppose it’s a big part of the game and it’s been in the media a lot in the last year because Joe is big on it. But it’s crazy if any coach doesn’t expect every player on the pitch to do those things well, from your 10 to nine, wingers to front row.
“It’s not just about the front eight getting involved in the rucks like back in the day; everyone has to do it. You can’t have a weak link there or it leaves you exposed.”
A complete view of the game from an Ireland wing who is planning to bring a complete game of his own to the World Cup.
Topaz Ambassador Luke Fitzgerald visited the NACS award-winning Topaz site in Ballacolla, Co. Laois on Thursday. Topaz Ballacolla was recently awarded the NACS Insight 2015 International Convenience Retailer of the Year Award, beating off global competition to the prestigious prize.
