JACK CROWLEY HAS quickly put his own stamp on the Ireland 10 jersey and while the young Munster man appears to be wearing the responsibility lightly, there is an understanding within the camp of the pressure on the out-half’s shoulders.
Playing out-half for any team at Test level is a big ask but when you’re tasked with replacing a player of the calibre of Johnny Sexton, the focus on your every move intensifies even more.
The Sexton comparisons were always going to follow Crowley across this tournament but so far, the 24-year-old is playing his game with a freedom that has excited both supporters and his international teammates.
“Yeah it’s been pretty impressive to watch, hasn’t it?” says scrum-half Jamison Gibson-Park.
He’s full of confidence and you’ve seen that in his performances, really. I wish I had that much confidence when I was his age but it’s the same as a lot of the young guys, they’re all the same these days.
“They’re unbelievable in how they prepare and someone my age takes some inspiration from these younger guys and the way they prepare. It’s pretty awesome working alongside him.”
Gibson-Park starting working closely with Sexton when he joined Leinster in 2016 but only lined out alongside Crowley for the first time in November 2022. He doesn’t quite know the Corkman as well as his old Leinster half-back partner just yet, but does see some similarities in how the two 10s approach their rugby.
“He’s [Crowley] pretty diligent in his preparation, that would certainly be one comparison you could make.
“I think he has got to the stage where he is filling other people with confidence around him and we all know how good he is, so yeah, hopefully we’ll see a bit more of it over the next few weeks.”
Crowley is expected to retain the 10 shirt for Saturday’s clash with Wales, with Ciarán Frawley the favourite to start at full-back should Hugo Keenan miss out as a result of his knee injury.
That scenario could also lead to another outing for Harry Byrne, with the Leinster 10′s apperance off the bench against Italy marking his first Test cap since 2021 after a frustrating run of injuries.
“It’s a bit of a shame because I don’t think we’ve got to see the best of him yet, for a few years he has struggled to link a number of games together so he’s been good now, so hopefully we’ll see him get a bit more of a crack, whether it’s for the rest of the championship or down the line with Leinster,” Gibson-Park says of Byrne.
“But he’s certainly another awesome player to play alongside and he’s got a number of strings to his bow, so hopefully we’ll see more of that.
“I think he’s similar to Ross [Byrne] in the way that they prepare is pretty unbelievable, really, and the way they can prepare not just themselves but a team and make sure that you’re in the best place going into the weekend.
“You’ve seen it a little bit, he started the game away to Leicester for us [Leinster] and had a pretty good day out that day, but the same sort of thing, like I said with Jack he’s at a point now where he’s bigging everyone up around him, it’s not just about him.”
Keenan may not be the only high-profile absence this weekend, with Caelan Doris also a doubt having sat out yesterday’s training session in Abbotstown.
Gibson-Park says the current level of competition in the squad means those injuries don’t create as much cause for concern within the group as they might have done previously.
“That’s exactly how it feels, that it just rolls on. I’ve been in the position of being the one that’s sat out and it just feels seamless. It’s tough being the one that’s sat out, like Hugo is at the moment but it’s pretty seamless from a squad perspective, certainly.
“I suppose the environment [is driving that] to a point, isn’t it? But not only that, when lads are going back to their provinces it’s being driven on in the provinces as well. So it’s not like there’s a big dip and you’re coming back in.
“The ambition of all the squads is driving that on and the majority of the club teams around the country are really strong in that way as well and building good depth. So good depth there helps good depth here. That’s certainly how it feels at the moment, anyway.”
