Ireland star ‘had double vision' after being ‘eye gouged' while playing for Lions but ‘glad rival wasn't given red card'
But the former
2
Luke Fitzgerald was left with double vision from an eye gouge while playing for the Lions
Credit: AP:Associated Press
2
But he is glad Schalk Burger was not red carded for it
Credit: Action Images - Reuters
Fitzgerald was one of 15 players included by Lions head coach Ian McGeechan for the 2009 Tour of South
Africa
.
The Springboks won the series outright 2-1, having won the first two Tests in Durban and Pretoria before the Lions emerged victorious in the third in Johannesburg.
Fitzgerald was reflecting on that tour ahead of
Australia
.
And he said: "(South Africa) was an amazing place to go on tour - I really felt for the crew who went down there during COVID.
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"As we all know, they're a very passionate bunch, the South African supporters. But then, when you bring the Lions red sea contingent into it, it was a brilliant couple of weeks.
"I think we got that last tour just before camera phones, having a little bit of the professional side of things, but also some of the amateur era stuff which was pushed from Ian McGeechan and the management.
"We all got on like a house on
fire
, had a great time out there, it was a brilliant test series.
"It was pretty closely fought, we had some missed opportunities in the first test, but everyone remembers that second test in Pretoria - what a battle that was.
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"It was a great one to be involved with, although unfortunately we came out on the wrong side of it.
"It was an amazing tour, with amazing people.
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"You always have that little bit of a connection with other Lions just because of what you've gone through and I think it's great to hear the other lads' stories as well."
The second Test proved to be a controversial one.
Within the first minute, Schalk Burger - who did not play in the opening Test - appeared to make contact with the eyes of Fitzgerald.
He was only shown a yellow card and thus sent to the sin bin for the following ten minutes.
The 2004 World
Rugby
Player of the Year was suspended for eight weeks for the transgression after the fact.
But Fitzgerald revealed he was glad the Springbok was not shown red on the day.
WRESTLING MATCH
He explained: 'The eye gouge - it was kind of unusual.
"Us wingers generally try to stay out rucks as much as possible, but I found myself somehow in a ruck
next
to Schalk Burger and it wasn't a pleasant experience.
'It was mad - he gouged me, on his 50th Test cap as well!
"I found myself
wrestling
with him; which is never a good idea, but he decides to gouge me on top of it after making mincemeat out of me.
'It was a bad start to the test, I had double-vision for pretty much the rest of the game really.
"He only got a yellow card for it, which was the big talking point of that tour, even though the linesman told the referee at the time 'he's gouged him'.
'He asked me and I said 'he did gouge me, I don't know what to say and don't want to be a rat, but he did do that'.
'It was unfortunate and they were very lucky to get away with that one.
"The pressure of the crowd and the atmosphere at Loftus Versfeld, all of those things were probably contributing factors to it.
'In some ways, it was good that it didn't ruin his big day, which would have been a disaster for a guy who's an all-time great, to have cost them a test match on his 50th cap.
"From a Lions perspective, it wasn't so great. It was still an unbelievable Test match, we still had plenty of opportunities to win the game, close out the game."
JOINT PAIN
The former Leinster man was not the only one to count his bruises in what was a gruelling contest.
The 37-year-old said: 'At half-time, I'll never forget the scenes in our
dressing room
- Adam Jones, his shoulder was out, so he was trying to get that put back in.
"He's a big boy in fairness, so it's hard to get that shoulder back in.
'You could hear people in agony at the side of the changing room and the rest of us were just picking ourselves together.
"There were guys who had been knocked out and stuff, so it was a brutal test match.
'They were an unbelievable team and we almost brought it to a third test, unfortunately not, but it was a brilliant occasion.'
Luke Fitzgerald was speaking to
Sydney
and
Melbourne
Tests.
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