Luke Fitzgerald announced his retirement from rugby on Tuesday morning, aged just 28-years-old, citing a neck injury as the main cause.
Speaking after the announcement, head coach Leo Cullen expressed his gratitude for everything that he had done for the province, but also spoke about the massive sense of loss that they were feeling in the wake of his decision.
"We're absolutely gutted here, you know Lukey has played such an important part in all of Leinster's success in recent times. He's such a phenomenally talented player who works incredibly hard, he's so popular amongst the group, so he's going to be a massive loss. We'll all miss him here."
While Cullen was his head coach at the province over the past year, he came across Fitzgerald at an earlier age and stated that even when he was still involved in the schools game, you could see the talent shining through.
"I actually coached Luke before I ever became a team mate of his, when I helped out with the Blackrock College Senior team in 2004. Although I spent the majority of my time with the forwards, you could clearly see even then as a fourth year, that Luke was a special talent.
"I was lucky enough to have played with Luke from 2007 until I retired in 2014 and have spent the last couple of seasons coaching him."
Some of his other former team-mates from Leinster, Ireland and the Lions have taken to social media to pay tribute to him, including Gordon D'Arcy and Jamie Roberts.
Loved playing with this guy @lukefitz11 best left foot step in the business & all-round great guy! Enjoy retirement👠pic.twitter.com/hPzeVYhTWg
— Gordon D'Arcy (@Gordonwdarcy) 28 June 2016
Good luck with the next chapter pal @lukefitz11 Good memories of playing against and with ya!! ðŸ‘🼠pic.twitter.com/UZtl4kjV7W
— Jamie Roberts (@Jamiehuwroberts) 28 June 2016
I am gutted to hear about the retirement of @lukefitz11. Thanks for the magic, Dude.
— Ross O'Carroll-Kelly (@RossOCK) 28 June 2016
Really feel for #lukefitzgerald. Had seriously come back into form and will be hugely missed. Good @IRUPA have systems in place to help too
— Niall Breslin (@nbrez) 28 June 2016
Thanks for the memories @lukefitz11! #ThanksLuke pic.twitter.com/YzcnOhSWyT
— Leo the Lion (@LeinsterLeo) 28 June 2016
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