It takes time to learn your trade in professional rugby. Jack Crowley is 25 and only beginning to reach his full potential.
He was exceptional for Munster against Leinster at Croke Park last Saturday. I loved his body language behind an aggressive, young Munster pack. So calm, with a hint of a smile after each booming clearance, sidestep or offload.
I’ve watched Jack since he was a teenager in Bandon Grammar School and he’s never played better. He used to heap pressure on himself during the battle with Ben Healy and Joey Carbery to start for Munster. I also remember Ronan O’Gara trying to sign him for La Rochelle.
He was always a special talent. Rog saw it. So does Andy Farrell. It takes time. Setbacks shape an athlete’s career.
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Outplaying the man currently in possession of the Ireland 10 jersey in every facet of the game should be enough to command a start against New Zealand at Soldier Field next Saturday. But that is not how the national camp operates under Farrell.
I’m on the outside looking in now, but the first morning the squad used to meet up, the half-back units and Farrell would sit down to analyse the previous game and to plan ahead.
Last Monday, Jack Crowley and Sam Prendergast were studying each other’s performances from two days earlier. Not just Jack and Sam – Ciarán Frawley, Jamison Gibson-Park, Craig Casey, Caolin Blade and Farrell would have gathered for a nuanced discussion rather than back slapping or finger pointing.
Over the years, in this meeting, I learned what makes Jack and Sam tick. They are decent lads. Serious professionals. It’s away from the wider group, so you get an insight into how a fella’s brain works in certain scenarios.
Prendergast will take plenty from Crowley’s performance in Croke Park – mainly the way Jack played with so much control and confidence.
What we learned from Munster’s emphatic win over Leinster
This is what makes Farrell such a great coach – he creates scenarios where players work together to improve each other’s games. The fear of failure that exists under other coaches is removed.
With all the Jack-versus-Sam chatter, especially on social media, we can get drawn into the negative aspects of the debate or we can trust that Farrell will get the best out of two special playmakers.
Sam is only 22. Age is important here. Not since O’Gara was learning how to become an international 10 in a packed Aviva Stadium, with millions watching on television, has a player been expected to do so much so young.
When Johnny Sexton was 22, he was playing AIL for St Mary’s because Leinster had Felipe Contepomi. Two years later, in 2009, Johnny was straining at the leash to replace an injured Contepomi in the Leinster v Munster European Cup semi-final at Croke Park.
Crowley would have developed a similar perspective to Sexton. I admire the way he handled being dropped by Farrell for Prendergast last year. Having led Munster to a United Rugby Championship (URC) title in South Africa, and Ireland to a Six Nations title, it would be a normal human reaction to throw his toys out of the pram.
Instead, he performed off the bench when he would be forgiven for feeling bitter as the decision to pick Prendergast spoiled his chance of making the Lions tour.
Croke Park was a complete performance. I could list 10 examples but a booming left foot on 70 minutes, when he found grass down the middle to put Leinster under savage pressure, told me that Jack is a better player at 25 than the 24-year-old I played alongside.
A right footer, the confidence to launch two kicks off his left shows how much belief he has in the work he does when nobody is watching.
Prendergast is a magician with ball in hand. He came on tour of South Africa last year, when Frawley’s drop goal split the series, without playing a minute in the test matches. Not one training session passed without this tall kid producing a jaw-dropping piece of skill.
Defensively, Sam has room to improve. He is trying to hone all aspects of his game while operating at the highest level, from European semi-finals to the Six Nations, when there is an expectation on players to sacrifice their physical wellbeing in the tackle.
He’ll get there.
Crowley came into this season as a stronger, more refined player. Prendergast should be afforded the same space to grow.
Still, only one outhalf can drive the bus on a regular basis.
It is not a foregone conclusion that Crowley will start against the All Blacks. As the Leinster pairing, Gibson-Park and Prendergast have an advantage, but nothing more can be asked of Jack.
Farrell will aim to strike a balance in November. When one 10 starts, the other tends to finish, with Crowley able to switch to 12 or 15.
As a fixture, Munster versus Leinster needed the red pack to stop being bullied by blue forwards. Edwin Edogbo and Brian Gleeson saw to that before coming off injured, ruling themselves out of Ireland debuts in November.
They’ll get there.
I’m travelling to Chicago, where I might bump into a few other retired heads who were part of the first Ireland team to beat the All Blacks in 2016.
The element of surprise is gone now. Ireland have levelled the playing field somewhat, with another victory in 2018 and winning the test series in 2022, but we also lost two World Cup quarter-finals to them.
Arguably, the most relevant past meeting between Ireland and New Zealand ahead of next weekend is not the historic victory at Solider Field nine years ago, but what happened a fortnight later in Dublin when they beat the living hell out of us. They also won on the scoreboard, 21-9.
The laws of rugby changed after that game. There were several incidents that would have been straight red cards a few weeks later. I remember them hooping and hollering after Sam Cane knocked Robbie Henshaw out cold. When Malakai Fekitoa joined Munster in 2022, we pulled a bit of craic out of his high shot on Simon Zebo.
New Zealand will want revenge for Chicago in Chicago. The gridiron locals can expect a ferocious contest as the All Blacks have already lost in Argentina and shipped 43 points at home to the Springboks. Another defeat is unconscionable.
Removing Tadhg Beirne’s levers from their ruck ball will be a priority. Leinster cannot claim that the returning Lions were undercooked as Tadhg looked like he was still playing last summer’s second test in Australia.
If New Zealand are hooping and hollering over a prone Irish player in the early exchanges at Soldier Field, Ireland are in trouble. If Crowley and Beirne transfer their Croke Park form across the Atlantic, we should be in the fight.
