JACK CROWLEY has been asked to fill many roles for Munster and Ireland during 2022 but the Bandon native is happy to slot into any job in red or green to keep progressing.
Crowley, who will be 23 in a couple of weeks, will start 2023 at out-half for Munster having edged ahead of Ben Healy in the pecking order behind Joey Carbery, and he knows there will be a lot on the line for himself and his province when they head north to take on Ulster in a crunch New Year’s Day clash in Belfast.
Crowley has been involved in nine matches this season for Munster, bringing his appearances for the province up to 24, but other than the home game against Ulster, he has not started at out-half. He has come on or switched to out-half in a number of games, having started twice at inside centre and once at full-back.
He doesn’t mind where Graham Rowntree and his management slot him in, he just wants to be involved and at the moment looks like a safe bet to surpass last season’s dozen appearances.
He brought his versatility into Munster from Bandon Grammar, Bandon RFC and Cork Con, so moving around the backline is not an issue.
“It’s more probably since I’ve been young, the ability to be able to cover multiple positions and that’s something I’ve always been able to do, from jumping between nine and ten in school.
“I’m just happy once I’m on the pitch. I don’t mind what jersey is on my back. Wherever I’m needed, or whatever job I’m asked to do, I’m happy to fill in. It’s certainly not looking to take that (12) jersey. I’m just happy to fill in and be on the pitch playing minutes.”
He knows the importance of a win in Belfast and not losing any further ground in their pursuit of a knockout spot in the URC and qualification for next season’s Champions Cup.
“I’d like to view the title of a must-win game as an external view and that’s understandable. But internally, as an organisation, every game is a must-win. We don’t go into any game looking for anything else.
“But I can understand from looking at the table, that it is a must-win. To me, we identify that but we are more looking for performances that can lead to that, and we understand it is a quick turnaround and such a close game. It’s the start of a new season, with a new staff, and you can see each week, we can certainly see, it’s gelling, it’s coming together.
“We are looking at the many positives, we are looking at the few per cent of things that went wrong in games, and hopefully if we can correct them and get them working, in those tight games, we can flip the result in our favour.
“For me, I don’t view it as anything else. You have to trust the process and the game plan. And you’re never going to change just because of the circumstances. You have to trust the information you’re being given, the previews of Ulster, and stick to the plan.
“But for me, I go into every game wanting to win and so does everybody else here. Now it’s just about tidying up those errors and slight percentages that were off against Leinster and fixing them ahead of Ulster. And give a performance and hopefully, the result will look after itself because we have been improving week by week.”
It’s been a memorable year for the former Irish U20, who played for Emerging Ireland on their tour to Bloemfontein and then played for Ireland ‘A’ against an All Blacks selection.
He made his senior Irish debut off the bench against Fiji and then his first start when he was drafted in for injured skipper Jonathan Sexton prior to the game against Australia, but he has had little time to digest it all.
“I haven’t had much time to reflect. In my own time, I will look back. At the moment, it is job-driven. Reviewing and then previewing, getting back on the horse to try to get that performance on the next weekend.
“It’s where I want to be. Playing games. And it’s where we want to be as a squad, competing every week and trying to get better, looking at areas we can get better.
“Obviously it’s a bumpy roller coaster. It’s nothing that we didn’t expect. We’d be lying if we said it was going to be a fairytale. Obviously, we’d love to be winning every game. We don’t want to be where we are now. But it’s the reality. Yes, every game is a must-win but that is the reality for every team.
“And we’re just embracing that and not focusing on anything else other than ourselves going into each game trying to get that performance. So for me, it’s just sticking to the plan, enjoying each game, and the opportunities to play in each game. So, yeah, I’m lovin’ it.”