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Back up the truck: Luke Fitzgerald signs 2-year extension with Leinster

That was fast.

AFTER A WEEK of speculation that he was on his way to Munster, Luke Fitzgerald has this afternoon penned a deal to keep him at Leinster until 2015.

The utility back has endured a luckless run of injury problems in the last two years. A situation which left the former Blackrock College star dangling on an expiring contract last summer.

Eventually, Leinster awarded Fitzgerald a  one-year extension, but with time running out on that deal rumours began to surface last week that he was considering a move to Munster.

Before taking on Connacht on Saturday, Rob Penney had to dead-bat the question live on TG4 and the situation reached a head today (Tuesday) when 98FM’s noon sports bulletin suggested the the Lions Test starter’s move to Munster was done.

A Munster representative would offer no comment on the link, while a spokesman for the IRFU suggested that the radio station had ‘jumped the gun’.

By 3pm, Leinster had released a statement with a ‘delighted’ Fitzgerald saying this:

“I’m delighted to commit my future here. It is hugely frustrating to miss the run-in to the campaign but I’m looking forward to beginning my rehab over the coming weeks and getting back in a blue shirt next season.”

In the same page, head coach Joe Schmidt (whose own contract ends in June 2014) said: ”At just 25, his best years are ahead of him and hopefully he’ll be back better than ever early next season.”

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