Editing Sean Fitzpatrick (section)

==Captain of the All Blacks==
In 1992 Fitzpatrick was awarded the captaincy of the All Blacks, a position he held until his retirement from test rugby. A first test match win against [[South Africa national rugby union team|the Springboks]] since their return from isolation, plus series victories over a World XV and [[Ireland national rugby union team|Ireland]] were dampened by the loss of the [[Bledisloe Cup]] in Australia.{{Citation needed|date=September 2015}}

The biggest event of the rugby calendar in 1993 was the [[British & Irish Lions]] tour to New Zealand. The first test went narrowly to the All Blacks, with Grant Fox kicking a last minute 50-metre penalty to steal a win. This was avenged in the Second Test by the Lions with their highest-scoring Test win in New Zealand.{{Citation needed|date=September 2015}} In the third test, with Fitzpatrick faced the prospect of becoming only the second ever All Blacks captain to lead his team to a series defeat against the Lions. The side were 10–0 down at one point, but recovered to take the match convincingly and with it the series.{{Citation needed|date=September 2015}}

Unwanted history could not be avoided on the end of season tour of Britain however, as England picked up a win over New Zealand at Twickenham. 1994 was another up and down season for the All Blacks. South Africa were defeated 2–0 with one game drawn. However, France caused a major upset by winning their series in New Zealand 2–0, the first and until 2022, only European team to achieve this.{{Citation needed|date=September 2015}}

By the time of the [[1995 Rugby Union World Cup|1995 World Cup]] New Zealand had assembled a more formidable side. [[Ian Jones (rugby player)|Ian Jones]], [[Jeff Wilson (sportsman)|Jeff Wilson]], [[Andrew Mehrtens]], [[Zinzan Brooke]] and [[Jonah Lomu]] had proved themselves as world-class players. New Zealand were most pundit's pre-tournament favourites. The All Blacks had convincingly defeated all opponents, the most remarkable being a semi-final against [[England national rugby union team|England]], in which Lomu scored four tries. They met the hosts, South Africa, in the [[1995 Rugby World Cup final|final]], who had stuttered through the early stages. South Africa won the tournament in extra time with a [[Joel Stransky]] drop goal.

After storming through the first [[Tri Nations Series]] unbeaten, the All Blacks embarked upon a further three-match series in South Africa. The 1996 tour of South Africa was the first series win by a New Zealand side in South Africa. The 1996 All Blacks were one of the great teams in the history of the game, and the series win cemented their captain's place among the true greats.{{Citation needed|date=September 2015}} Continued success with [[Auckland RFU|Auckland]] in the [[National Provincial Championship (1976–2005)|NPC]] and the [[Blues (Super Rugby)|Auckland Blues]] in the new [[Super Rugby|Super 12]] continued in the following seasons, but it was clear that Fitzpatrick's days in the game were numbered. He was carrying an injury in the autumn of 1997, yet such was his status that coach [[John Hart (rugby coach)|John Hart]] thought it would be good for the other players to include him in the party. He made his 92nd and final test appearance on 29 November 1997 as a substitute in the 42–7 victory against [[Wales national rugby union team|Wales]] at [[Wembley Stadium (1923)|Wembley]].{{Citation needed|date=March 2020}}

Fitzpatrick was appointed an [[New Zealand Order of Merit|Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit]], for services to rugby, in the [[1997 New Year Honours (New Zealand)|1997 New Year Honours]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://dpmc.govt.nz/publications/new-year-honours-list-1997 |title=New Year honours list 1997 |date=31 December 1996 |publisher=Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet |access-date=15 December 2019}}</ref>