Sean Brian Thomas Fitzpatrick (born 4 June 1963) is a New Zealand former

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

player. He played for the dominant Auckland team in the late 1980s and 1990s, and won the first two Super 12 titles with the Auckland Blues in 1996 and 1997. He made his debut for the New Zealand national team (the All Blacks) in 1986, and went on to win 92 international caps. He was part of the New Zealand side that won the first Rugby World Cup in 1987. He captained New Zealand from 1992 until his retirement in 1997, winning a grim test series against the British Lions in 1993, reaching and losing the 1995 World Cup final, and winning a series in South Africa in 1996.

Early life and family

Fitzpatrick was born in

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

on 4 June 1963, the son of Brian Fitzpatrick, also a New Zealand international player. He is the nephew of Rosanne Meo and the great-grandson of Miriam Soljak. Fitzpatrick's high school education was at Sacred Heart College,

. As a primary school student he attended at Mt Carmel Primary (Auckland).

Early rugby career

A product of the powerful

provincial side, Fitzpatrick made his international debut as one of the "Baby Blacks" in the 1986 Test series in France. Although most of the regular starting fifteen for New Zealand had been suspended following the unauthorised

New Zealand Cavaliers The Cavaliers was an unofficial New Zealand rugby union team which toured South Africa in 1986. Because of the Apartheid policies of the South African government, the official New Zealand Rugby Union tour scheduled for 1985 was cancelled, and t ...

tour of South Africa, the All Blacks won, and a number of new faces made their mark on the selectors. Despite this start, Fitzpatrick went into the 1987 Rugby Union World Cup as second choice to captain Andy Dalton. Dalton missed the early stages of the tournament due to injury, and although he recovered in time for the knockout stages, Fitzpatrick kept his place in the team, leaving scrum-half David Kirk to skipper the side to victory against

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

in the final at

Eden Park Eden Park is a sports venue in Auckland, New Zealand. It is located three kilometres southwest of the Auckland CBD, on the boundary between the suburbs of Mount Eden and Kingsland. The main stadium has a nominal capacity of 50,000, and is s ...

in Auckland.

Captain of the All Blacks

In 1992 Fitzpatrick was awarded the captaincy of the All Blacks, a position he held until his retirement from test rugby. A first test match win against the Springboks since their return from isolation, plus series victories over a World XV and

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

were dampened by the loss of the

Bledisloe Cup The Bledisloe Cup is an annual rugby union competition between the national teams of Australia's Wallabies and New Zealand's All Blacks that has been contested since the 1930s. The frequency that the competition is held has varied, as has the n ...

in Australia. The biggest event of the rugby calendar in 1993 was the

British & Irish Lions The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England national rugby union team, England, Ireland national rugby union team, Ireland, Scotland national rugby union team, Scotland, and ...

tour to New Zealand. The first test went narrowly to the All Blacks, with Grant Fox kicking a last minute 50-metre penalty to steal a win. This was avenged in the Second Test by the Lions with their highest-scoring Test win in New Zealand. In the third test, with Fitzpatrick faced the prospect of becoming only the second ever All Blacks captain to lead his team to a series defeat against the Lions. The side were 10–0 down at one point, but recovered to take the match convincingly and with it the series. Unwanted history could not be avoided on the end of season tour of Britain however, as England picked up a win over New Zealand at Twickenham. 1994 was another up and down season for the All Blacks. South Africa were defeated 2–0 with one game drawn. However, France caused a major upset by winning their series in New Zealand 2–0, the first and until 2022, only European team to achieve this. By the time of the 1995 World Cup New Zealand had assembled a more formidable side. Ian Jones, Jeff Wilson,

Andrew Mehrtens Andrew Philip Mehrtens (born 28 April 1973) is a New Zealand former rugby union player. He was regarded as a top first five-eighth, having played first for Canterbury in 1993, before being selected for the All Blacks (New Zealand's national ...

Zinzan Brooke Zinzan Valentine Brooke (born Murray Zinzan Brooke on 14 February 1965) is a former New Zealand rugby union footballer who played at number eight. Brooke played 58 tests for New Zealand, and 42 non-international matches for the All Blacks. He ...

and

Jonah Lomu Jonah Tali Lomu (12 May 1975 – 18 November 2015) was a New Zealand professional rugby union player. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential players in the history of the sport, and as one of the most talented sportsm ...

had proved themselves as world-class players. New Zealand were most pundit's pre-tournament favourites. The All Blacks had convincingly defeated all opponents, the most remarkable being a semi-final against

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, in which Lomu scored four tries. They met the hosts, South Africa, in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

, who had stuttered through the early stages. South Africa won the tournament in extra time with a

Joel Stransky Joel Theodore Stransky (born 16 July 1967) is a South African former rugby union player. A fly-half, he is known for scoring all of South Africa's points, including the winning drop goal, against New Zealand in the 1995 Rugby World Cup final ...

drop goal. After storming through the first Tri Nations Series unbeaten, the All Blacks embarked upon a further three-match series in South Africa. The 1996 tour of South Africa was the first series win by a New Zealand side in South Africa. The 1996 All Blacks were one of the great teams in the history of the game, and the series win cemented their captain's place among the true greats. Continued success with

in the NPC and the Auckland Blues in the new Super 12 continued in the following seasons, but it was clear that Fitzpatrick's days in the game were numbered. He was carrying an injury in the autumn of 1997, yet such was his status that coach John Hart thought it would be good for the other players to include him in the party. He made his 92nd and final test appearance on 29 November 1997 as a substitute in the 42–7 victory against

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in the London Borou ...

. Fitzpatrick was appointed an

Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit () is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have r ...

, for services to rugby, in the 1997 New Year Honours.

Honours

;

National Provincial Championship The National Provincial Championship may refer to: * National Provincial Championship (1976–2005), original competition before reform into 14 sides * National Provincial Championship (2006–present) The National Provincial Championship (NP ...

1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996 *

Ranfurly Shield The Ranfurly Shield, colloquially known as the Log o' Wood, is a trophy in New Zealand's domestic rugby union competition. First played for in 1904, the Shield is based on a challenge system. The holding union must defend the shield in challenge ...

1995, 1996 ;

Blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

Super Rugby Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It has previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Super Rugby started as the S ...

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

;

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

1987 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...

1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1997 * Tri Nations

series victory 1993 * International record for most consecutive test matches (63 successive Tests between 1986 & 1996.) * International team record for most consecutive tests without defeat (23 test matches between 1987 and 1990)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fitzpatrick, Sean 1963 births New Zealand international rugby union players Auckland rugby union players Blues (Super Rugby) players World Rugby Hall of Fame inductees Living people Officers of the New Zealand Order of Merit New Zealand rugby union players New Zealand people of Croatian descent New Zealand people of Irish descent Rugby union players from Auckland Rugby union hookers People educated at Sacred Heart College, Auckland 1987 Rugby World Cup players 1991 Rugby World Cup players 1995 Rugby World Cup players