A LEADER AND A IS A REAL COUP

Lions head coach Warren Gatland (right) looks on with former New Zealand captain Sean Fitzpatrick during the series between the two teams in 2017.

THERE have been plenty of rugby players over the years who’ve looked to the stands for a signal – any kind of signal – over what to do next.

Sometimes, the chap scanning the massed bank of supporters searching desperately for his coach might even be the captain.

Sean Fitzpatrick was cut from different cloth.

As with the best on-pitch leaders, the ex-New Zealand skipper didn’t need a coach to tell him what to do in the heat of battle.

The former referee Ed Morrison tells a story about a Bledisloe Cup match in Sydney in 1994 when Australia had opened up a 20-point lead over New Zealand early in the second half.

Fitzpatrick to say: “I’m

We’re going this game.”

There followed an increase in tempo that almost blew Australia, and Morrison, clean away, though the Wallabies did hold on for their win.

No coach made that decision to move from second gear to overdrive in a split second. It was Fitzpatrick, and his players responded. It was leadership of the highest order.

Little wonder Morrison rates him the greatest captain he came into contact with.

That is what the Scarlets have just acquired with the appointment of Fitzpatrick as a non-executive director and global ambassador for the region.

Quite who approached whom isn’t altogether clear.

What is certain is the Scarlets have ambition and wanted to strengthen at board level.

Fitzpatrick, who says Welsh rugby is in his blood after his dad’s loss to Wales in 1953, evidently was keen to have an input and ticked every box for the West Walians. Before you could say Llanelli 9, New Zealand 3 – or even Llanelli 3, New Zealand 81, for that matter – he was at Parc y Scarlets last Tuesday afternoon, smiling for the cameras.

His press release quotes were revealing, with the 57-year-old speaking of the Scarlets’ rich history and their community-based environment “with a total focus on the development of local talent and pride in their achievement”.

For Fitzpatrick, the likelihood is that rich history didn’t start in 2003, when the Welsh game went regional. He’s more likely to consider it a 144year operation – of course he is. He even mentioned Phil Bennett as one of his childhood heroes.

Expect those deep roots of Llanelli rugby to become increasingly spoken approached Morrison giving you a warning. to change the pace of