THERE WAS A chuckle from the stands, and even a few ‘waheeeyyys’, when a shot popped up on the big screen showing Jack Crowley and Sam Prendergast sitting side by side on the bold boy’s step.
Ireland’s two out-halves simultaneously spent time in the sin-bin during a game which Crowley described afterwards as equally “chaotic” to Ireland’s victory over Scotland at Murrayfield two years ago.
Prendergast effectively lost a game of duck-duck-goose to referee Matt Carley, who could have yellow-carded any of a handful of Ireland players for their infringements in the lead-up to South Africa’s second try through Cobus Reinach.
Crowley’s yellow soon afterwards was altogether more frustrating. The Munster 10, who came on at fullback in a 34th-minute backline shuffle caused by a head injury to Tommy O’Brien, committed a similar breakdown offence to that for which he was yellow-carded in the dying stages of Munster’s 2023 URC final success in Cape Town. Reaching through the ruck with the stealth of an elephant, Crowley played Reinach’s arm and illegally forced a South African spillage, his infringement almost immediately flagged by the TMO.
Jack Crowley and Sam Prendergast in the bin. Dan Sheridan / INPHO
Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
Speaking during his portion of the post-match press conference, Crowley didn’t hide his frustration at the moment of overzealousness which cost him 10 minutes and, eventually, yielded seven points for South Africa on the cusp of half-time.
“Just coming in, you’re trying to bring that energy in,” said Crowley. “Probably went over that edge and was a little bit desperate trying to put back-end pressure… As a result, it was costly.
There are things you’re trying to avoid. It’s in my control to avoid that. It’s something frustrating for the group, the impact it has.
It was a costly mental error which eventually saw Ireland cough up seven points just before half-time. Mind you, makeshift fullback Crowley put in an otherwise stellar defensive performance, saving two tries — one a joint effort with James Lowe, albeit on a South African pen advantage — and covering the backfield with lung-bursting commitment throughout.
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Crowley denies Canan Moodie a score. Dan Sheridan / INPHO
Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
The Cork man was one of three Irish players, along with Prendergast and Andrew Porter, to miss the start of the second half with yellow-card timeouts.
While Ireland were openly aggrieved that Prendergast’s opposite number, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, didn’t receive a card for his first-half challenge on Tommy O’Brien, all five cards given to Irish players by referee Matthew Carley — including the early 20-minute red for James Ryan — were justifiable, at least on live viewing.
Across 80 bruising minutes, Andy Farrell’s side played with a numerical disadvantage of some description for longer than they didn’t. With Tommy O’Brien’s injury and the subsequent backline rejig chucked into the mixer, they were effectively flying by the seat of their pants for the latter three quarters of the game.
“They’re a world-class side”, Crowley said of South Africa, “and if you do lack discipline, like we did at times, they’re going to punish you.”
The 25-year-old, however, praised Ireland’s “calmness” in remaining in the fight despite the proverbial seeming to hit the fan every few minutes at Lansdowne Road.
“You’re present with the situation that’s at hand; the coaches, the key leaders in the group: how to put a plan in place and not get fazed by it.
“That’s what you saw when the lads went out for that next 10 minutes in the second half. There was no panic. It was, ‘Right, this is the situation, this is how we’re going to handle it.’
“I thought the fight to do that, and even the smarts to deliver that, and to not give them an inch [was impressive]. And then you marry that, because it has to be married with attitude and belief. When you combine those two, you got us to keep in the fight, and we were there until the end.”
Crowley makes a second-half break from his own 22'. Gary Carr / INPHO
Gary Carr / INPHO / INPHO
That Ireland actually ‘won’ the second half 6-5 is of scant consolation, but Crowley believes Ireland can take some solace from their application to what quickly became a quixotic task against the world’s best side.
Indeed, to concede only a penalty try in a second half in which Mack Hansen was forced to kick off with only 11 chasers outside him was creditable, and Crowley echoed the sentiments of his head coach in finding pride in what was, literally and symbolically, a sore home defeat.
“The way that the forwards defended on our goal line to get the penalty underneath the posts in the second half, the clearance kick (by Jamison Gibson-Park) — that can’t be looked past. I know it might have looked like we conceded yards and they were in our 22′ a lot.
“Then, towards the last 10 minutes, we released the valve and we got down there (in South African territory).
“To be part of that group… that’s why it hurts when you do go off the field and you’re hurting the group”, Crowley added, referring back to his own yellow card.
“But to be part of a group that has such fight and character to give us a chance in the last 10 minutes… I’m sure a lot of people watching on are probably going to think, ‘Right, this game’s done.’
“But the belief, the fight for one another, and how we want to represent each other [stood out]. Because we know what work lads are putting in, we know what work the coaches are putting in, and we have unbelievable pride to represent one another out there, those that are playing and those that aren’t.”
“The atmosphere out there felt… The crowd is unbelievable. I’d like to think that they could see the fight in us, that we weren’t backing down, that we were representing something greater than ourselves, and we wanted to show that, and we also wanted to win. Y’know what I mean?”
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'There are things you're trying to avoid. It's in my control to avoid that'
THERE WAS A chuckle from the stands, and even a few ‘waheeeyyys’, when a shot popped up on the big screen showing Jack Crowley and Sam Prendergast sitting side by side on the bold boy’s step.
Ireland’s two out-halves simultaneously spent time in the sin-bin during a game which Crowley described afterwards as equally “chaotic” to Ireland’s victory over Scotland at Murrayfield two years ago.
Prendergast effectively lost a game of duck-duck-goose to referee Matt Carley, who could have yellow-carded any of a handful of Ireland players for their infringements in the lead-up to South Africa’s second try through Cobus Reinach.
Crowley’s yellow soon afterwards was altogether more frustrating. The Munster 10, who came on at fullback in a 34th-minute backline shuffle caused by a head injury to Tommy O’Brien, committed a similar breakdown offence to that for which he was yellow-carded in the dying stages of Munster’s 2023 URC final success in Cape Town. Reaching through the ruck with the stealth of an elephant, Crowley played Reinach’s arm and illegally forced a South African spillage, his infringement almost immediately flagged by the TMO.
Speaking during his portion of the post-match press conference, Crowley didn’t hide his frustration at the moment of overzealousness which cost him 10 minutes and, eventually, yielded seven points for South Africa on the cusp of half-time.
“Just coming in, you’re trying to bring that energy in,” said Crowley. “Probably went over that edge and was a little bit desperate trying to put back-end pressure… As a result, it was costly.
It was a costly mental error which eventually saw Ireland cough up seven points just before half-time. Mind you, makeshift fullback Crowley put in an otherwise stellar defensive performance, saving two tries — one a joint effort with James Lowe, albeit on a South African pen advantage — and covering the backfield with lung-bursting commitment throughout.
The Cork man was one of three Irish players, along with Prendergast and Andrew Porter, to miss the start of the second half with yellow-card timeouts.
While Ireland were openly aggrieved that Prendergast’s opposite number, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, didn’t receive a card for his first-half challenge on Tommy O’Brien, all five cards given to Irish players by referee Matthew Carley — including the early 20-minute red for James Ryan — were justifiable, at least on live viewing.
Across 80 bruising minutes, Andy Farrell’s side played with a numerical disadvantage of some description for longer than they didn’t. With Tommy O’Brien’s injury and the subsequent backline rejig chucked into the mixer, they were effectively flying by the seat of their pants for the latter three quarters of the game.
“They’re a world-class side”, Crowley said of South Africa, “and if you do lack discipline, like we did at times, they’re going to punish you.”
The 25-year-old, however, praised Ireland’s “calmness” in remaining in the fight despite the proverbial seeming to hit the fan every few minutes at Lansdowne Road.
“You’re present with the situation that’s at hand; the coaches, the key leaders in the group: how to put a plan in place and not get fazed by it.
“That’s what you saw when the lads went out for that next 10 minutes in the second half. There was no panic. It was, ‘Right, this is the situation, this is how we’re going to handle it.’
“I thought the fight to do that, and even the smarts to deliver that, and to not give them an inch [was impressive]. And then you marry that, because it has to be married with attitude and belief. When you combine those two, you got us to keep in the fight, and we were there until the end.”
That Ireland actually ‘won’ the second half 6-5 is of scant consolation, but Crowley believes Ireland can take some solace from their application to what quickly became a quixotic task against the world’s best side.
Indeed, to concede only a penalty try in a second half in which Mack Hansen was forced to kick off with only 11 chasers outside him was creditable, and Crowley echoed the sentiments of his head coach in finding pride in what was, literally and symbolically, a sore home defeat.
“The way that the forwards defended on our goal line to get the penalty underneath the posts in the second half, the clearance kick (by Jamison Gibson-Park) — that can’t be looked past. I know it might have looked like we conceded yards and they were in our 22′ a lot.
“Then, towards the last 10 minutes, we released the valve and we got down there (in South African territory).
“To be part of that group… that’s why it hurts when you do go off the field and you’re hurting the group”, Crowley added, referring back to his own yellow card.
“But to be part of a group that has such fight and character to give us a chance in the last 10 minutes… I’m sure a lot of people watching on are probably going to think, ‘Right, this game’s done.’
“But the belief, the fight for one another, and how we want to represent each other [stood out]. Because we know what work lads are putting in, we know what work the coaches are putting in, and we have unbelievable pride to represent one another out there, those that are playing and those that aren’t.”
“The atmosphere out there felt… The crowd is unbelievable. I’d like to think that they could see the fight in us, that we weren’t backing down, that we were representing something greater than ourselves, and we wanted to show that, and we also wanted to win. Y’know what I mean?”
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it was all yellow