David Edward Stanley Fitter

A strong scrummaging tight head prop at both club and provincial level, David Fitter, should have had a longer career in Wallaby gold. Born and bred in Melbourne, Fitter played Australian Rules before he switched to rugby at Scotch College. Interestingly the college has produced four Test capped Wallabies and all of them - Ewen McKenzie, Andrew Heath, Richard Harry and Fitter - were prop forwards.

He joined the ACT Brumbies in 2003 and made his Super Rugby debut against Queensland. That same year he was selected for Australia ‘A’ to play Japan in Tokyo but then missed all of the following season due to a broken foot.

In 2005 he played for Australia ‘A’ against the Junior All Blacks before he returned to anchor the University of Sydney scrum in their dominant 41-5 grand final win over Eastwood. His Man-of-the-Match scrummaging performance earned him a place in an extended Wallaby squad for the final Tri-Nations Test against New Zealand and also on the end-of-season Spring Tour to Europe. Fitter then made his Test debut against Ireland and was retained in the starting lineup for the international against Wales in Cardiff.

Frustrated at being overlooked, both by his new Super Rugby team, the Western Force and the Australian selectors, Fitter ventured to England at the end of 2006 to play with London Irish. After he retired from rugby Fitter returned to school at Melbourne University where he studied biomedicine and then postgraduate medicine.

Highlights

2005 

Fitter won his first Test cap at tight head prop in the run-on XV for the 30-14 win over Ireland in Dublin. A week later he won a second cap, also at No.3, in the 22-24 loss to Wales in Cardiff.