Hanrahan wary of Fitzgerald danger
FORMER Limerick minor hurler Conor Fitzgerald is set to start at out-half for Connacht in tomorrow’s Guinness PRO14 interprovincial clash with Munster at the Aviva Stadium (3pm).
Fitzgerald will come up against his former Munster team-mates in the final-round regular season fixture.
Fitzgerald’s opposite number tomorrow, Munster out-half JJ Hanrahan, revealed that former Reds star Simon Zebo referred to the Shannon RFC clubman as the ‘young Rog’ as a comparison to Ronan O’gara when he was at the province.
Hanrahan said: “I think Fitzy (Conor Fitzgerald) is a great player.
“I know Simon Zebo used to call him young Rog when he was down here and first came into the Academy. He is a quality player and I think he went up there.
“Sometimes it can be a bit of a backlog down here and when he went up there he got a second lease of life. Andy Friend put an awful lot of confidence in him and played him an awful lot. He has been doing really, really well.
“He has been goal-kicking very well, he has been kicking well out of hand, he is a quality young player and a quality young talent in a good backline that Connacht have. I’m sure he will be raring to go this weekend.”
Fitzgerald played for Limerick in the 2014 All-ireland minor hurling decider against Kilkenny at Croke Park. He also starred for both Munster and Ireland at Under-19 and Under-20 level in rugby, including featuring against New Zealand at the World Rugby Under-20 Championship in Georgia.
The former Ardscoil Ris schools star made his British and Irish Cup debut for Munster A against Nottingham Rugby in October 2017.
Fitzgerald was released from the Munster Academy programme at the end of the 20172018 season. He then signed a professional contract with Connacht before the start of the 2019-2020 season.
Fitzgerald will be joined in the Connacht team by two more players who recently played with Munster, centre Sam Arnold and back-row Conor Oliver. √Ulster’s semi final opponents Edinburgh lost 15-3 at home to Glasgow last night.