OUT-HALF IS PROBABLY the position where you most need to feel that you have the coach’s trust. You’re his quarterback. You have a different relationship with him. Maybe other guys need to feel some heat to operate at their best, but if the out-half is looking over his shoulder, wondering if he’s going to play each week, it’s impossible to drive the team effectively.
Not my words, of course, but Johnny Sexton’s – from his autobiography released just last month.
Johnny Sexton and Ronan O'Gara in 2011. Billy Stickland / INPHO
Billy Stickland / INPHO / INPHO
Jack Crowley probably knows how Sexton felt in the early part of his international career, vying for a jersey with Ronan O’Gara, feeling that every misstep was a door opening for your competitor to walk through.
Crowley, Ciarán Frawley and Ross Byrne appreciate what it’s like to have responsibility but not quite enough authority to lead a side.
Sexton is now part of a management team that has yet to decide on their preferred No 10 and back him fully.
Sexton’s role has yet to be defined clearly to the public, but we have to assume that if he is in the building, he will have strong opinions and will voice them. To remain silent would be out of character. And what would be the point in that anyway?
You’d wonder which of the players in the mix he likes best for the role long term. His view would have to carry a considerable weight with the right people. The very opposite to say, well, myself. But it’s a free world and what’s the point of watching all of these games if you can’t get involved in the out-half debate.
Crowley, from this vantage point looking in from the very outside, is getting done unfairly. As somebody who didn’t really care which way the pecking order was shaping up, I am now invested to a considerable degree in the progress of the Innashannon man.
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Simply, he seems to me like somebody not quite being given his dues while others are being exalted for things they have not done yet; for ‘ceilings’.
Crowley was clearly disappointed to be called to the West Lower against New Zealand after 58 minutes. The team were ahead at this point, 13-12. The game finished 13-23. His replacement Frawley had a tough 22 minutes and made several mistakes. But you’d be sympathetic to Frawley. We all know the feeling of one shite happening begetting the next. Frawley should not be judged narrowly; he is a class player, athletic and smart. If he’s suffering from anything it’s a lack of reps at 10 and the same seed of self-doubt that Crowley has to deal with. Make it happen, or else there might not be too many more chances.
Frawley and Crowley don’t just have to deal with each other, but the promise and burgeoning rep of Sam Prendergast. What Prendergast has done yet at this level to earn such a standing is beyond this simple onlooker. He played 478 minutes for Leinster last season, 121 during this campaign so far. This is partly down to his age, 21, and the competition at the province but, still, if he is so good then you’d have to ask why Leinster are holding him up?
Maybe this is an old-fashioned view, hopelessly so, but aren’t you supposed to prove your credentials at club level before making the next leap?
Sam Prendergast and Jack Crowley. Billy Stickland / INPHO
Billy Stickland / INPHO / INPHO
Andy Farrell often has a different idea of where a player is at compared with their provincial coaches, and he seems excited. It is interesting to contrast how he spoke about Crowley and Prendergast following the 22-19 win against Argentina.
Crowley did “some real good stuff actually. And then some bits that you’d obviously like to tidy up like everyone else”.
The Ireland head coach then went on to say that he’d be asked about an individual, so you have to answer the question, “but it’s a team game”.
He didn’t seem to mind so much speaking about another individual.
“I thought Sam was excellent. I thought he was really composed, playing your first cap in that type of position, that type of situation, I thought he was really composed.
“He played at a nice tempo at the line and started to make things happen. That just shows what type of character he’s got.”
Another full of praise for Prendergast against Argentina was Brian O’Driscoll, speaking about his “subtely” and “extra delayed pass” on Off The Ball. O’Driscoll said that is what’s needed to unlock defences.
“Fixing defenders by just that slow motion, almost trying to get someone to make a decision and then he’s able to counter it . . . I haven’t seen that in watching Munster, and I haven’t seen it in Crowley’s time in Ireland. There’s an additional element to Prendergast’s ability to read defences that creates the real space. That’s the glitter.”
Had you just read that and not seen the game you might think Crowley was workmanlike, getting the job done, before Prendergast came on to sprinkle magic dust all over the place.
But Ireland didn’t score a point in the 18 minutes Prendergast was on. He was good alright, in the way O’Driscoll describes, but Crowley had to me what looked to me like a fairly stellar first half.
Ireland were cohesive and dangerous for periods with him running the attack. And Crowley had a full house in the first half: a penalty, conversion, a drop goal and try – no small feat at this level. The drop goal was far from a gimme. The try took a fair degree of physical bravery and arrived moments after he was poleaxed.
He wasn’t so effective in the second half, but I’m not sure that was solely on him. Prendergast’s introduction did freshen things up, but at no point did Ireland’s attack look like it was headed to another level – the type of level that would have involved them scoring a try. Again, that’s not on Prendergast entirely but talk of his rise seems exaggerated.
The delaying of the pass was impressive against Argentina, but he won’t get away with that indefinitely. Soon opposition defences will know more about him and his traits they’ll be up on him heavily before a double pump is even a thought. Indeed, you can imagine a player such as O’Driscoll in his time as an opponent looking at tape of Prendergast and planning accordingly.
That said, Prendergast will evolve himself to stay ahead of defences, and the shared hope of everyone is he does develop into the kind of player who can put his stamp on an era, like Sexton, like O’Gara or even a David Humphreys. Or perhaps he’ll be part of a Ward-Campbell axis with Crowley or Frawley or somebody else. Or maybe he won’t, because there is a better player in front of him.
Crowley has done enough to be treated as such for now. There’s nothing wrong with trying new players during November, something Ireland have probably not done enough of over the years. It would make sense for Prendergast to start against Fiji.
Yet come the Australia game on Saturday week Crowley should be in situ – knowing he has the coach’s full trust, and the support of the man in the setup who knows the debilitating effects of partial backing.
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Jack Crowley is playing well for Ireland and needs to be backed
OUT-HALF IS PROBABLY the position where you most need to feel that you have the coach’s trust. You’re his quarterback. You have a different relationship with him. Maybe other guys need to feel some heat to operate at their best, but if the out-half is looking over his shoulder, wondering if he’s going to play each week, it’s impossible to drive the team effectively.
Not my words, of course, but Johnny Sexton’s – from his autobiography released just last month.
Jack Crowley probably knows how Sexton felt in the early part of his international career, vying for a jersey with Ronan O’Gara, feeling that every misstep was a door opening for your competitor to walk through.
Crowley, Ciarán Frawley and Ross Byrne appreciate what it’s like to have responsibility but not quite enough authority to lead a side.
Sexton is now part of a management team that has yet to decide on their preferred No 10 and back him fully.
Sexton’s role has yet to be defined clearly to the public, but we have to assume that if he is in the building, he will have strong opinions and will voice them. To remain silent would be out of character. And what would be the point in that anyway?
You’d wonder which of the players in the mix he likes best for the role long term. His view would have to carry a considerable weight with the right people. The very opposite to say, well, myself. But it’s a free world and what’s the point of watching all of these games if you can’t get involved in the out-half debate.
Crowley, from this vantage point looking in from the very outside, is getting done unfairly. As somebody who didn’t really care which way the pecking order was shaping up, I am now invested to a considerable degree in the progress of the Innashannon man.
Simply, he seems to me like somebody not quite being given his dues while others are being exalted for things they have not done yet; for ‘ceilings’.
Crowley was clearly disappointed to be called to the West Lower against New Zealand after 58 minutes. The team were ahead at this point, 13-12. The game finished 13-23. His replacement Frawley had a tough 22 minutes and made several mistakes. But you’d be sympathetic to Frawley. We all know the feeling of one shite happening begetting the next. Frawley should not be judged narrowly; he is a class player, athletic and smart. If he’s suffering from anything it’s a lack of reps at 10 and the same seed of self-doubt that Crowley has to deal with. Make it happen, or else there might not be too many more chances.
Frawley and Crowley don’t just have to deal with each other, but the promise and burgeoning rep of Sam Prendergast. What Prendergast has done yet at this level to earn such a standing is beyond this simple onlooker. He played 478 minutes for Leinster last season, 121 during this campaign so far. This is partly down to his age, 21, and the competition at the province but, still, if he is so good then you’d have to ask why Leinster are holding him up?
Maybe this is an old-fashioned view, hopelessly so, but aren’t you supposed to prove your credentials at club level before making the next leap?
Andy Farrell often has a different idea of where a player is at compared with their provincial coaches, and he seems excited. It is interesting to contrast how he spoke about Crowley and Prendergast following the 22-19 win against Argentina.
Crowley did “some real good stuff actually. And then some bits that you’d obviously like to tidy up like everyone else”.
The Ireland head coach then went on to say that he’d be asked about an individual, so you have to answer the question, “but it’s a team game”.
He didn’t seem to mind so much speaking about another individual.
“I thought Sam was excellent. I thought he was really composed, playing your first cap in that type of position, that type of situation, I thought he was really composed.
“He played at a nice tempo at the line and started to make things happen. That just shows what type of character he’s got.”
Another full of praise for Prendergast against Argentina was Brian O’Driscoll, speaking about his “subtely” and “extra delayed pass” on Off The Ball. O’Driscoll said that is what’s needed to unlock defences.
“Fixing defenders by just that slow motion, almost trying to get someone to make a decision and then he’s able to counter it . . . I haven’t seen that in watching Munster, and I haven’t seen it in Crowley’s time in Ireland. There’s an additional element to Prendergast’s ability to read defences that creates the real space. That’s the glitter.”
Had you just read that and not seen the game you might think Crowley was workmanlike, getting the job done, before Prendergast came on to sprinkle magic dust all over the place.
But Ireland didn’t score a point in the 18 minutes Prendergast was on. He was good alright, in the way O’Driscoll describes, but Crowley had to me what looked to me like a fairly stellar first half.
Ireland were cohesive and dangerous for periods with him running the attack. And Crowley had a full house in the first half: a penalty, conversion, a drop goal and try – no small feat at this level. The drop goal was far from a gimme. The try took a fair degree of physical bravery and arrived moments after he was poleaxed.
He wasn’t so effective in the second half, but I’m not sure that was solely on him. Prendergast’s introduction did freshen things up, but at no point did Ireland’s attack look like it was headed to another level – the type of level that would have involved them scoring a try. Again, that’s not on Prendergast entirely but talk of his rise seems exaggerated.
The delaying of the pass was impressive against Argentina, but he won’t get away with that indefinitely. Soon opposition defences will know more about him and his traits they’ll be up on him heavily before a double pump is even a thought. Indeed, you can imagine a player such as O’Driscoll in his time as an opponent looking at tape of Prendergast and planning accordingly.
That said, Prendergast will evolve himself to stay ahead of defences, and the shared hope of everyone is he does develop into the kind of player who can put his stamp on an era, like Sexton, like O’Gara or even a David Humphreys. Or perhaps he’ll be part of a Ward-Campbell axis with Crowley or Frawley or somebody else. Or maybe he won’t, because there is a better player in front of him.
Crowley has done enough to be treated as such for now. There’s nothing wrong with trying new players during November, something Ireland have probably not done enough of over the years. It would make sense for Prendergast to start against Fiji.
Yet come the Australia game on Saturday week Crowley should be in situ – knowing he has the coach’s full trust, and the support of the man in the setup who knows the debilitating effects of partial backing.
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