Meeting Sean Fitzpatrick the Man that Once was An All Black

Tuesday 8 August will be remembered as a very special day thanks to the wonderful people at Investec who invited us to have lunch with All Black Legend, Sean Fitzpatrick.

While in town, Fitzpatrick also shared his lessons on The Art of Winning at the Investec Wealth Forum.

The venue, Inanda Club, was what you would expect from any Investec hosted event, top-class and super stylish with no stone unturned to make sure everyone invited felt relaxed and at home.

As always, I arrived early and met our hosts from Investec ready with something to drink and a personalised name tag so that everyone knew who was who.

Not long after my arrival the former All Black Captain stepped through the front door and we got introduced to each other and pleasantly enough Sean remembered TheYellowCap as we have communicated via Twitter on previous occasions a couple of times before. Now that was comforting meeting a man of his stature remembering a random name like ours.

Once everyone had arrived we all settled in around the lavish set table for lunch and then it was time to get to know this man that is currently the Chairman of the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation and who also is the founder and Director of the Front Row Group of Companies, which includes Front Row Leadership.

At first I just sat and listened to what he had to say while the other people in attendance were asking him questions about rugby, Laureus and life and again, having worked with other New Zealanders before in my life, I was amazed at the humility this man was showing. I could not resist it any longer and I just had to ask him why New Zealand people are so humble, yet powerful as a nation?

His answer was simple, “We’ve always had to fight for what we wanted as a Nation.”

Everything he spoke about that Tuesday afternoon while being with us showed me that this man was far more than a leader among men, yet not once did he show arrogance or portrayed someone who had the right to whatever in life. He was just another guy, enjoying lunch with strangers that admired him for who he once was when he was Sean Fitzpatrick the All Black Captain.

The lunch was filled with lots of laughter from stories he shared with us from his rugby days including the effects of the 1981 Springbok Tour to New Zealand, meeting Wahl Bartmann for the first time when Auckland came to play the Sharks, to the amazing work they do through the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation across the world.

When it was time to say goodbye one almost felt like it could never end, as spending time with someone like this does not come around often and then while greeting everyone the man that is Sean Fitzpatrick ask if he could take a selfie with you…why would you say NO?

Thank you Investec for this amazing opportunity and most of all, thank you Sean for spending time with us!