A feeling of pride is evident in his words as Sean Fitzpatrick reflects on 11 years as a New Zealand international and memories and tales to last a lifetime.
– Tanaka to Cane: Rugby World Cup team of the week
“I belong to a special club and 871 is my number.” As one of 17 sons to follow in their father’s footsteps in the 131-year history of the All Blacks, he is part of a select group.
But the former hooker recalls he was never pushed to emulate dad Brian, who played 22 times between 1951 and 1954 and died in 2006.
“He encouraged us to play team sport and just enjoy it,” says Sean, now 52. “Rugby just happened to be the chosen sport.
“He never put me under that pressure to follow in his footsteps and I never thought I could become an All Black. I had a bit of talent and then thought around 20 maybe I can be.
“He wasn’t one to show too much emotion, but he was pretty chuffed when I did it. Not a lot of fathers and sons do that and shows what you can achieve.
“I achieved more than I ever thought I would. I played for the greatest rugby team in the world, had some good times and some difficult times.”
The rugby World Cup certainly highlights those highs and lows. His first experience in 1987 was as surreal as it was successful for a New Zealand side hosting the inaugural tournament amid the backdrop of unpopularity following the unofficial Cavaliers tour to apartheid South Africa a year earlier.
Fitzpatrick, a debutant in 1986 against France after the rebel Cavaliers were banned for two Tests, reveals how coach Brian Lochore – later to be knighted – tried to win the hearts of a nation as well as the World Cup. He made his team more accessible to the public by spending a night with locals in the small Wairarapa settlement of Pirinoa.
“It was amazing, but I thought that was more about Brian Lochore than anything else,” says Fitzpatrick. “You have to realise back in ‘87 rugby wasn’t the most liked sport. We had some major issues with our association and with going to South Africa in apartheid times.
“A lot of New Zealanders didn’t like the All Blacks and it was about going back into the community and touching the people.
“For us, the World Cup was about doing a job. It was literally our duty to win it, get it out of the way and get back to work. We were focused on our job.”
Having made history, that focus was strangely missing four years later when Australia upset them 16-6 in the semi-finals en route to a first triumph.
“That was my worst moment, 1991,” adds Fitzpatrick. “We’d taken our position for granted and shouldn’t have got beaten.
“We had a kick up the backside and some of my mates never played for the All Blacks again. Some of us changed and we were the ones who played on. It was a wake-up call.”
Fitzpatrick was captain as more misery followed in the epic 1995 World Cup final, decided by a Joel Stransky drop goal in extra time, but remembered mostly for host nation South Africa uniting under its first black president Nelson Mandela – although coach Laurie Mains claimed the players’ tea and coffee had been spiked on the eve of the clash.
Hollywood paid tribute to the Boks with the movie ‘Invictus’, but Fitzpatrick says: “I haven’t watched it. Why would I? I know what the ending is going to be anyway and don’t think it really depicts what it was all about.
“But it will go down as one of the greatest moments of my life in terms of being such life-changing experience. When you go through something like that, it’s going to have an emotional and motivational effect.
“After that final, a mate said to me ‘You have to come back next year and beat them in their own back yard, be the first All Blacks captain to win a series in South Africa’.
“To go back there and beat them at home was my greatest moment. Winning that series in ‘96 was bigger than winning the World Cup. That team, we had a crusade, and we knew what we were doing. In 1987 I don’t think we really did or knew how much it meant.”
Fitzpatrick attained legendary status when he won the last of his 92 caps in 1997 against Wales at Wembley, with his leadership qualities and courage coming to the fore as part of a side that raised the bar in rugby. Their record 23-Test unbeaten run, set between 1987 and 1990, still stands, although Steve Hansen’s current charges were one game shy in 2014.
Debate will rage about which side is the greatest, but if Richie McCaw can lead his men to a second successive World Cup title then that would probably settle the argument.
“This team is the most prepared All Black team I’ve ever seen,” Fitzpatrick tells Sport360. “It’s not that I haven’t seen it before, but this team likes winning trophies and have challenged themselves to win back-to-back World Cups.
“I think this team is special. For me it’s more about the way they go about their business, how they hold themselves publicly and the way they deliver. Richie has that winning mentality and desire in spades. Being captain of the All Blacks is more important than being Prime Minister of New Zealand.
“You are representing 4.5 million shareholders and we expect you to win. If our football, cricket or netball team comes second, New Zealanders would say ‘bloody well done, a small country on the edge of the world has come second on the world stage’. But if the All Blacks come second it’s a national disaster.
“I absolutely loved that pressure. We often talk about harnessing a fear of failure and, for me, the biggest motivating factor playing for the All Blacks was that fear of failure.
“This is going to be the most difficult World Cup to win ever and I just think New Zealand have done everything they can to do it.”
Just two defeats since 2012 emphasises their extraordinary talents and Fitzpatrick believes they will be hard to displace, despite the imminent retirements of heroes like McCaw and Dan Carter.
“We are going to have a lot leaving, but we have new guys coming through and a conveyor belt that works well in New Zealand rugby,” he adds. “Rugby is different to what it was 30 years ago, and it’s hypothetical, but yes they could be dominant for the next decade. The work ethic, the coaching, the science and the support of the Rugby Union has been phenomenal. They’ve identified it, they’ve got it right and New Zealand rugby should be proud of what they have achieved.”
Just like Fitzpatrick is of his own achievements.
