Fitzpatrick Treated For ‘Irregular Heartbeat’
Ulster prop Declan Fitzpatrick suffered an irregular heartbeat during Friday night’s game against Glasgow Warriors at Scotstoun Stadium and was taken to hospital.
Declan Fitzpatrick underwent a successful procedure yesterday to correct the irregularity. He left hospital this afternoon and will return to Belfast where he will undergo further tests.
The Ireland international tweeted earlier today: “Thanks to all medics at the game and Glasgow West Infirmary. Heart back to normal and heading home. Cheers for the kind messages.”
Ricky Lutton sustained an injury to his toe during the 27-9 defeat to Glasgow. An X-ray this morning showed that there was no break. He will have ongoing physiotherapy ahead of the upcoming derby match against Leinster.
Tom Court, another of Ulster’s props, suffered a thumb injury during last Friday’s clash. An X-ray today showed that it was not broken and he will resume training later this week.
With Ulster losing to Glasgow and Leinster, Munster and the Ospreys all posting round 20 victories, Mark Anscombe’s men remain in third position in the RaboDirect PRO12 but now face two tough matches as they battle to secure a play-off spot.
Fourth-placed Glasgow are a point behind but have a game on hand, while table toppers Leinster, are next up for Anscombe’s side before a challenging trip to Thomond Park to face Munster.
While the loss to Glasgow was obviously disappointing for Ulster captain Johann Muller, he is keen to stress the positives from the performance in Scotstoun.
“Chatting to the Glasgow team after the match, they said that it was their biggest test of the season and they were obviously over the moon with the result. However, I think the scoreline didn’t tell the whole story of the game,” said Muller.
“I actually thought that in the first half of the match we played some good rugby. We built some nice phases but we gave away a try just before half-time that was completely against the run of play.
“In the second half we had some good periods, but to play with 14 guys for 30 minutes killed us.
“We had a try which wasn’t allowed, they had a try which was allowed and that was a 14-point swing which was the difference between winning and losing.”
However, with that reversal now put to bed, Muller and his team-mates are now focusing on the two massive interprovincial ties at the end of the regular PRO12 season:
“We have got a bit of a break now. We have got a week and we have to recover mentally and physically.
“We are playing two finals now because basically if we lose one of them there won’t be any play-off chances. The pressure is on and we have to react.”