Leinster’s Sam Prendergast starts for Ireland ahead of the Munster No 10 against Australia today
Andy Farrell has been criticised for putting Jack Crowley up for media duty last Tuesday, due to the fact that he has been benched for today’s clash with the Wallabies, and the general media furore around Ireland’s No 10 jersey.
Generally, starters are put up in front of journalists, and while Andy Farrell did not name his match-day team to his players until Wednesday, Crowley would have known that he was behind Prendergast.
Furthermore, as outlined by Cian Tracey on the Indo Sport podcast, it was the IRFU’s decision to embargo the Crowley interview until today, creating further tension and speculation among journalists and commenters on social media.
Indeed, Tracey said that Crowley’s mood was ‘not good’ at the roundtable talk and that ‘he did not give off vibes that he was starting at the weekend’ and ‘he was a bit low and down’.
Jack Crowley unsure of how to get into starting team
Crowley’s first-half performance in Ireland’s win over Argentina two weeks ago looked like it would be enough to earn a start today, but Prendergast did enough for the coaches against Fiji to get the nod.
Knowing what we know now, Crowley’s answer to the question of what he has to do nail down a starting place, certainly has an undertone of frustration.
Not too sure. Not a hundred per cent up to me. Try and build consistency and continue to work on the areas of my game that I know I can.
In most positions you will always like a character to be there, someone strong, someone that is willing to take the game to that position. And also, when setbacks come as well, the person that is able to deal with them, get up and keep moving forward.
Overall, Crowley answered astutely, given the natural disappointment he would have been feeling at the time.
He spoke positively on the Irish media’s and supporter’s obsession with the out-half role, which goes back to the time of Tony Ward and Ollie Campbell, and more recently with Johnny Sexton and Ronan O’Gara’s battle for the jersey.
He also gave an insight into the competition in Ireland camp among himself, Prendergast, and Ciarán Frawley.
The 24-year-old added: “They have put that jersey in such a high place that it’s for the rest of us to go and fulfil that and take it somewhere special. It’s a sign of a good thing.
“It means Ireland rugby is going in the right way of there is that turbulence and resistance around it, it means we are going to places that require that level of noise and that’s something that us as a group are very respectful of. It all becomes part of it.
“So, there is massive amount of competition around the place and hopefully it will push us to become better.
“I think that’s always been there, it’s the same if you asked any of the ‘10s’ that question.
“I think their drive and hunger is there to be in that jersey. It is something, particularly from the outside, you might not, nor should you have that understanding, but as a group, we are really good at competition.
“It’s something that you’ve got to have to push each other, to make each other better and that challenge is one that we all embrace.”
