The Profile
The rugby career behind the headlines.
Sean Fitzpatrick played ninety two tests for the All Blacks between 1986 and 1997, which during an amateur and early professional era was an astonishing durability record. He captained the team for fifty one of them, a tally that only a few All Blacks have ever matched. He was part of the 1987 Rugby World Cup winning side, led teams on multiple successful series tours, and retired as the most experienced captain in All Black history.
The Fitzpatrick hookering style was relentless physically but also extremely technical. His work at the lineout, his ability to secure possession under pressure, his refusal to concede ground in the scrum: he was the template for what the hooker position became in the 1990s and early 2000s. His peers in world rugby rated him as the best of his era, which is saying something given the quality of that era.
Post-playing, he has been a global ambassador for rugby, a broadcaster across multiple networks, and now runs a senior leadership consultancy that works with some of the biggest companies in Europe and Australia. He is a genuinely thoughtful communicator on leadership, team culture, and the psychology of performance under pressure.
“You do not lead an All Blacks side by telling them what to do. You lead by being the last one off the training field. Everything else follows.”
Career highlights
- 1987 Rugby World Cup winner with New Zealand
- 92 All Black caps, 51 as captain
- Bledisloe Cup winning captain multiple times
- ONZM for services to rugby
- Global rugby ambassador
- Author and leadership speaker
First hand
Sean Fitzpatrick at Steam
Sean is a two-time Steam speaker. His October 2025 visit was a joint event with Michael Lynagh, and the room got an hour of 1991 Rugby World Cup stories from two of its protagonists.