Jack Crowley signs new two-year deal to stay at Munster

Cork native Crowley has decided to stay with his home province.

HAPPY DAYS: Jack Crowley of Munster after the Investec Champions Cup Round of 16 match between La Rochelle and Munster at Stade Marcel Deflandre in La Rochelle, France. Pic: Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile

Jack Crowley will remain a Munster player until at least 2027 following Wednesday’s announcement of a two-year contract extension in a joint statement from the province and the IRFU.

The 25-year-old fly-half has been in excellent form for Munster since the Six Nations campaign, when his Ireland future was called into question, from outside the camp at least, after the elevation of younger Leinster rival Sam Prendergast to the number 10 Test jersey for the first four rounds of the championship.

Crowley had impressed off the bench to see Ireland home to an opening-round victory over England but then had to settle for cameo roles at full-back and in midfield off the bench for the matches against Scotland, Wales and France, with reports surfacing of a big-money offer to move to English premiership giants Leicester Tigers this summer as a replacement for Handre Pollard.

The Innishannon man started the win against Italy in Rome and then hit the ground running on his return to Munster with back-to-back man of the match performances, in the URC derby victory at Connacht, followed by a game-defining drop goal against La Rochelle in France last Saturday to guide Munster to the Champions Cup quarter-finals this weekend.

That brought Crowley’s points tally to 305 points in 65 appearances for Munster since making his senior debut against Ulster in 2020-21 season, ahead of this Saturday’s last-eight clash back in France against Bordeaux-Begles.

That promises a potential head-to-head with former positional rival Joey Carbery, having helped Bordeaux to their Round of 16 victory over Ulster at Stade Chaban-Delmas last Sunday, the former Ireland fly-half having left Munster after losing his place in the side to Crowley.

The pair had dovetailed for the best part of two seasons after Crowley graduated from the Munster academy in the summer of 2021, having starred for Ireland Under-20s in the previous year’s Covid-curtailed Six Nations.

The Bandon RFC and Bandon Grammar School product was used at full-back and inside centre before finally ousting Carbery from the number 10 jersey during the run-in to the 2022-23 URC campaign, his game-winning drop goal in the semi-final against Leinster followed by a Grand Final success against the Stormers in Cape Town.

Crowley had been capped by Ireland for the first time off the bench against Fiji the previous November, and he would finish 2023 as back-up to Johnny Sexton at the World Cup in France. 

Following Sexton’s retirement, Crowley nailed down the starting role at fly-half for Andy Farrell and started every game of the 2024 Six Nations as Ireland retained their title, also starting both of that summer’s Tests in the drawn series with world champions South Africa, capping a 23-24 campaign which saw him named URC Players' Player of the Year and URC Next-Gen Player of the Year.

November saw the Corkman make way for debutant Prendergast midway through the Autumn Nations Series, but Crowley’s decision to stay and fight for his Test place bodes well for Munster and is a big morale boost ahead of a European quarter-final.