Luke Fitzgerald continued his return from injury on Saturday evening, and his performance was reminiscent of his best form with his enthusiasm and skill earning him the man of the match award at the RDS.

Keith Wood, Alan Quinlan and Shane Horgan were on Off the Ball last night, talking us through the weekend’s Heineken Cup matches. As talked turned to Leinster’s game against Scarlets the first focal point was the impressive return to Heineken Cup action of Luke Fitzgerald.

The consensus among the panel was that Fitzgerald had something of an unimpeded rise to the top of the rugby pyramid, but his performances in the last couple of years had had been drifting from his tiop level somewhat. Perhaps over enthusiasm, perhaps an inability to deal with the challenges that finally surfaced. However, his performance on Saturday was a reminder of the Luke Fitzgerald of old.

The panel theorised that the extended time off from the game, with a neck injury and the surgery to cure the problem, could prove to be beneficial to Fitzgerald. “At the weekend we saw him back to where he was, which was picking the right line at the right time” said Wood. “He seemed far more comfortable. Injury can be a really good leveller of all the emotions and it takes you out of the bubble that you’ve been in”, Wood said.