“He is one of the all-time greats.”

Former Leinster and Ireland winger says those who don’t think Jamie Heaslip was a brilliant player, don’t understand rugby at all. Heaslip announced his retirement from the game yesterday, after failing to recover from a back-injury picked up this time last year.

Writing for The Independent, Fitzgerald says Heaslip is one of Ireland’s all-time greats. He says Heaslip is a rare breed of player that never seemed to get “fazed” no matter the stakes. He says Heaslip has always been “been big on the smaller details” and that’s why coaches loved him.

“Nothing ever fazed him. Jamie would get stuck in and be really competitive but he would never lose the head.

That really stood to him because it meant that he was unbelievably accurate all the time. You hear everyone talking about him being a clever player and it’s for reasons like that.

For as long as I can remember, Jamie has been big on the smaller details. That’s why Joe Schmidt – and every other coach he worked under – was such a huge fan.

Lots of players can do all the work behind the scenes but delivering on the day is an entirely different matter. You never had to worry about that when it came to him.

That’s what makes him such a great player, and for me he is one of the all-time greats. He’s right up there in our top 10, if not top five, players ever.”

Heaslip has had his fare share of critics over the years. But Fitzgerald says those “who didn’t think Jamie Heaslip was a brilliant player didn’t understand rugby at all.”