'Jack is disappointed but he's an unbelievable person. He's so supportive'

IRELAND INTERIM HEAD coach Simon Easterby has praised Jack Crowley for his response to losing his starting place in the team to Sam Prendergast.

Crowley shone as he led Ireland to the Six Nations from the number 10 shirt last year and was the starter in both Tests against the Springboks last summer as well as the first two games of the autumn internationals before Prendergast took over at out-half against Fiji and Australia at the end of November.

Prendergast was in the 10 jersey for last weekend’s bonus-point win over England in the Six Nations, with Crowley making an impact off the bench for the second game in a row.

Kildare man Prendergast has retained the starting slot against Scotland this Sunday [KO 3pm, RTÉ/BBC], with Crowley again asked to make an impression from the bench.

“He was disappointed and so were a lot of other players who didn’t make either the starting 15 or the bench,” said Easterby this morning after confirming his selection for the Scotland game. “I think keeping some continuity with selection was important.

“I do agree that Jack was good last weekend coming off the bench. The game had opened up a bit and that’s partly due to the way he played and played the game in different areas of the pitch, so he did add real quality when he came off the bench, as did a lot of the other guys off the bench. We know how important the start is but we also saw last weekend how important finishing the game is.

“So Jack is clearly disappointed but he’s an unbelievable person. He’s so supportive. His own disappointment doesn’t reflect on the way he trained yesterday, the way he is in camp, the way he’s supporting Sam and the other players. He’s a great fella and we’re fortunate to have those two. Jack played all of last year, he started every game in the Six Nations, he had those experiences.

“We’re in a position where we’re trying to grow both of them and trying to grow Sam’s experiences, not just at home last week in a huge game for him and for us as a team but also now going away from home. How does he handle those types of experiences which is very different to last weekend?”

Sam Prendergast at Ireland training. Ben Brady / INPHO Ben Brady / INPHO / INPHO

It will be Prendergast’s first Ireland game away from Dublin as they look to make it two wins from two in this Six Nations.

Four caps into his international career, Ireland are pleased with how Prendergast is handling new challenges.

“We saw when he left Ireland camp in November and had the opportunity to play away from home with Leinster, he handled those pretty well, didn’t he?” said Easterby.

“It’s early days for him, we know that he has unbelievable talent and the expectation on him probably from himself, but also from the outside world is pretty high at the moment.

“We’re trying to support him in the best way we can, to allow him keep growing, keep enjoying those experiences, learning from them, and they’re not always going to be perfect.

“Unless you have them, you won’t know how to handle them in the future. I think it was another tough selection call, but we felt like the right decision in terms of continuity but also the growth of Sam.

“We know as well that Jack is inching to get a start in the 10 jersey. I’m not saying we’ll keep that selection right throughout the championship, but this week we feel it’s the right thing to do.”

In the end, it wasn’t a major surprise to see Prendergast in Ireland’s number 10 shirt again this weekend.

What was more unexpected was the return of Peter O’Mahony at blindside flanker after he wasn’t involved at all against the English.

Ryan Baird moves to the bench as O’Mahony gets set for his first Test start since the opening clash with the Springboks last July.

O’Mahony suffered a calf injury against Castres on 13 December and has only played one game for Munster since, starting their defeat to Northampton on 18 January.

Peter O'Mahony comes into the Ireland XV. Ben Brady / INPHO Ben Brady / INPHO / INPHO

“With Pete, we spoke before the England week and having come into camp with a little bit less rugby under his belt, we felt that he needed another week to work on a little bit of conditioning,” said Easterby.

“I think he supported the guys last week incredibly well. Bairdo did well in terms of his lineout work was excellent. Pete brings that, but he also brings experience which at the moment some other players can’t offer.

“It’s probably a decision we’ve been thinking about for a couple of weeks but after the England performance it was a chance to bring Pete in, bring his experience to the table and keep Bairdo involved off the bench.”

The only other change for the Scotland game sees Robbie Henshaw coming into the starting XV at outside centre, with Garry Ringrose shifting to the bench.

Read Next

Related Reads

Henshaw and O'Mahony named in Ireland team to play Scotland

Both Ireland out-halves had classy moments and made mistakes

“In terms of the centre partnership, we’ve got three brilliant centres in the squad who are playing really well at the moment. We felt like Ringer was excellent last weekend and that partnership with Bundee was good.

“Robbie came on and impacted the game and it was always our intention over the first couple of weeks to mix it up in that area. All three were playing well coming into camp, all three trained well and all contributed last weekend.

“Ringer covers the wing for us as well as centre, which means when he’s in the game at 60/65 minutes, the way he plays the game and how much he puts into his performance; it’s probably an opportunity for him to come on later in the game and be a bit fresher, a bit like Robbie did.

“From that respect, it was a tough decision leaving Ringer out but it was the right decision in terms of sharing the load between the three of them. Ringer played the full 80 last week, whereas Bundee came off a little earlier.”

- This article was updated at 2.06pm on 7 February to correct the outcome of Munster’s clash with Northampton.