- Ciaran Fitzgerald
-
For the Irish actor, see Ciarán Fitzgerald.
Ciaran Fitzgerald (born 4 June 1952) in Loughrea, County Galway is a former Irish rugby union footballer and coach of the national team.
Contents
Biography
Best known for his rugby success, Fitzgerald previously won two All-Ireland boxing championships. He also played minor hurling for Galway and was a member of the team in the minor final against Cork in 1970. Fitzgerald began playing rugby while at St Joseph's College, Garbally where he was chosen to play hooker by teacher, and priest, Bishop John Kirby. He studied in University College Galway, gaining a BComm in 1973, and played for University College Galway R.F.C.. He went on to play senior rugby for St. Mary's College [1]
He rose to prominence in the game and went on to captain the Ireland team to the Triple Crown in 1982 and 1985 and the Five Nations Championship in 1983, as well as the British and Irish Lions on their losing tour to New Zealand in 1983.
His debut test match was against Australia on 3 June 1979. Scotland were his final test opponents on 15 March 1986. In total, he received 22 competitive and three friendly caps for Ireland. He scored once, a try against Wales, in 1980. He went on to coach the Irish national rugby team for three years.
Playing in the amateur era, Fitzgerald also maintained a career in the Irish Army, and at one point was aide de camp to the President, Dr Patrick Hillery.
He was head coach of Ireland, from 1990 to 1992, leading the side to the 1991 Rugby World Cup, reaching the quarter-finals.
He now regularly appears on Setanta Sports and RTE, the Irish national TV and radio service, as a rugby pundit.
Appearances
- 1979: Australia W 27–12 Brisbane
- 1979: Australia W 9–3 Sydney
- 1980: England L 24–9 Twickenham
- 1980: Scotland W 22–15 Lansdowne Road
- 1980: France L 19–18 Parc des Princes
- 1980: Wales W 21–7 Lansdowne Road
- 1982: Wales W 20–12 Lansdowne Road
- 1982: England W 16–15 Twickenham
- 1982: Scotland W 21–12 Lansdowne Road
- 1982: France L 22–9 Parc des Princes
- 1983: Scotland W 15–13 Murrayfield
- 1983: France W 22–16 Lansdowne Road
- 1983: Wales L 23–9 Cardiff Arms Park
- 1983: England W 25–15 Lansdowne Road
- 1984: France L 25–12 Parc des Princes
- 1984: Wales L 18–9 Lansdowne Road
- 1984: Australia L 16–9 Lansdowne Road
- 1985: Scotland W 18–15 Murrayfield
- 1985: France D 15–15 Lansdowne Road
- 1985: Wales W 21–9 Cardiff Arms Park
- 1985: England W 13–10 Lansdowne Road
- 1986: France L 29–9 Parc des Princes
- 1986: Wales L 19–12 Lansdowne Road
- 1986: England L 25–20 Twickenham
- 1986: Scotland L 10–9 Lansdowne Road
References
External links
- Sporting heroes
- 1983 New Zealand British & Irish Lions Tour
- Irish Rugby Web Site
- Irish Rugby Web Site
Preceded by
Jim DavidsonIrish national rugby coach
1990–1992Succeeded by
Gerry MurphyIreland squad – 1991 Rugby World Cup Forwards D. Fitzgerald · Francis · Halpin · Hamilton · Kingston · Lenihan · Mannion · Matthews (c) · Popplewell · Smith · RobinsonBacks Aherne · Clarke · Crossan · Cunningham · Curtis · Geoghegan · Keyes · Mullin · Murphy · Saunders · StaplesCoach FitzgeraldBritish and Irish Lions – 1983 New Zealand tour Forwards Backs Coach British and Irish Lions team captains To 1910 Apr-Aug 1888: Robert Seddon Note 1 • Aug-Oct 1888: Andrew Stoddart Note 1 • 1891: Bill Maclagan • 1896: Johnny Hammond • Jun 1899: Matthew Mullineux Note 2 • Jun-Aug 1899: Frank Stout Note 2 • 1903: Mark Morrison • Jun-Jul 1904: David Bedell-SivrightNote 3 • Jul-Aug 1904: Teddy MorganNote 3 • 1908: Boxer Harding • 1910: John RaphaelNote 4 •
To present Jun-Jul1910: Tommy SmythNote 5 • Aug 1910: Jack JonesNote 5 • Aug-Sep1910: Tommy SmythNote 5 • 1924: Ronald Cove-Smith • 1927: David MacMyn • 1930: Doug Prentice • 1936: Bernard Gadney • 1938: Sam Walker • 1950: Karl Mullen • 1955: Robin Thompson • 1959: Ronnie Dawson • 1962: Arthur Smith • 1966: Mike Campbell-Lamerton • 1968: Tom Kiernan • 1971: John Dawes • 1974: Willie John McBride • 1977: Phil Bennett • 1980: Bill Beaumont • 1983: Ciaran Fitzgerald • 1986: Colin Deans • 1989: Finlay Calder • 1989: Rob Andrew • 1993: Gavin Hastings • 1997: Martin Johnson • 2001: Martin Johnson • May-Jun 2005: Brian O'DriscollNote 6 • May 2005: Michael OwenNote 6 • Jun 2005: Martin CorryNote 6 • Jul 2005: Gareth ThomasNote 6 • 2009: Paul O'Connell •
Notes Note 1: Robert Seddon died on tour after a boating accident, Andrew Stoddart, became captain for the remainder of the tour.
Note 2: Matthew Mullineux decided that after losing the first test that he should withdraw from further test matches, handing on field captaincy to Frank Stout, but remained tour captain.
Note 3: David Bedell-Sivright was injured during the first test. Teddy Morgan took over captaincy on the field but Bedell-Sivright remained tour captain.
Note 4: The team that John Raphael captained was not selected by the four Home Nations governing body, but had been organised by Oxford University and billed as the English Rugby Union team. However, it was denoted as the Combined British team by its Argentine hosts because it also included three Scots.
Note 5: Jack Jones captained the first test only, but Tommy Smyth remained the tour captain.
Note 6: Michael Owen captained the Lions in the first tour game, the test vs. Argentina in Cardiff. Brian O'Driscoll was injured at the beginning of the first test. Martin Corry and Gareth Thomas took over captaincy on the field but O'Driscoll remained tour captain.Categories:- Irish rugby union players
- Ireland international rugby union players
- Connacht Rugby players
- University College Galway R.F.C. players
- St. Mary's College R.F.C. players
- 1952 births
- Living people
- British and Irish Lions rugby union players from Ireland
- Rugby union hookers
- Alumni of University College Galway
- Irish rugby union coaches
- Galway hurlers
- Loughrea hurlers
- People from County Galway
- Irish Army officers
- Ireland national rugby union team coaches
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
