'At the start I don't think I dealt with it properly' but Jack Crowley now ready for Sam Prendergast rivalry

Crowley and Prendergast will be starting in Munster red and Leinster blue respectively this weekend.

Jack Crowley during Munster training at the University of Limerick ahead of Saturday's URC clash with Leinster at Croke Park. Pic: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile.

Irish rugby followers will finally get the duel they have been waiting for when Sam Prendergast and Jack Crowley go head-to-head in Saturday's URC derby at Croke Park between Leinster and Munster.

In a week when the rival fly-halves were once again thrown together as Ireland team-mates and rivals for the green No.10 jersey ahead of next month’s four Tests, Crowley, 25, and Prendergast, 22, will be starting in red and blue respectively in a final audition before Andy Farrell names his side to face New Zealand in Chicago two weeks later.

Munster boss Clayton McMillan on Thursday backed Crowley to block out the outside noise and concentrate on the task at hand.

The New Zealander was forced, under IRFU player welfare rules, to rest his No.10 from last week’s URC Round 3 win at home to Edinburgh, but wasted no time in restoring him to the jersey for this first derby of his tenure and emphasised it was the job of both forward packs to make their man look good.

“He’s been fully dialled in and focused on his role here at Munster,” McMillan said of Crowley.

“Obviously last week he had to sit that out and that probably didn’t sit too well with him either because he probably felt like he was getting into a bit of a rhythm.

“But we’re very aware that there’s two quality players going against each other. The reality is that both of their fortunes have been dictated by the eight or nine blokes that are in front of them.

“If they do a good job the guy in the No.10 jersey usually gets an armchair ride and that’s what we’ll be needing to do.”

Emotional rollercoaster

It’s been an emotional rollercoaster for both fly-halves since Prendergast gate-crashed Crowley’s Test rugby party last November. That appearance ended Crowley’s run of nine consecutive starts following Johnny Sexton’s retirement after the 2023 World Cup, and saw the Munster man relegated to the bench for the next six games, up until the final round of last season’s Six Nations.

A start apiece for Ireland in one-sided summer victories over Georgia and Portugal, having both been overlooked for Lions selection by Farrell, has restored some intrigue to the No.10 debate ahead of this autumn window, though Crowley arguably has enjoyed the stronger of starts to the domestic season.

Yet the Munster playmaker admits he did not initially react well to the intense scrutiny he found himself under 11 months ago when Prendergast grabbed his chance with both hands.

“Well, at the start I don’t think I dealt with it properly,” said Crowley. “I think I just I knew it was there and ignored it. And then as you go, you understand that it’s part of the nature of the game.

“It’s not just in our sport; it’s in every sport. It’s in sports that people are madly passionate about. So, if you can reframe it and look at it from a point of view of you understanding that it’s the passion for the game that people have and the drive for the game that we have here in Ireland.

“So, it’s coming back to the team’s purpose. We all have our own individual things going on and… external noise, that’ll always be there in one form or another for any player in the team. There’ll be always something.

“So, it’s understanding that it comes back to the team and what’s important for the team in that week and that’s, for me anyway, how I manage to navigate that.”

Crowley has prepared himself, physically and mentally, for all eventualities this season, not just the armchair ride his boss hopes he will get. He spent a lot of his off-season working one on one with Munster return to play coach Gordon Brett, the Innishannon man going back to, in his own words, “the basics of strength and conditioning” with a man from his own neck of the woods, nearby Kinsale.

“Probably didn’t give as much time to the physical side over the last few years,” the fly-half said.

“That’s just the nature of experience and understanding what a season needs. For the business end, when it’s important to deliver in knockouts, making sure to achieve the energy and the physical and mental capabilities at that time of the season.

I looked at how I could get the best foundation for myself to be able to do what I want to do on the field.

A good reflection

While he is a strong believer in the philosophy that physical fitness equates to mental sharpness, Crowley has also reflected hard on the emotional experiences of last season in a bid to better prepare for this one.

The focus in public minds, understandably on this of all weekends, is firmly on his battle for the Ireland No.10 jersey. Yet the Corkman said he has enjoyed a wider education on how to handle the vagaries of professional sport.

“It’s one that I think I’ll be grateful for a lot of lessons…” said Crowley.

“When you don’t get something, you can sit back and go, ‘Why me? I want this, I want to do that’.

“But then you understand that you aren’t doing that or getting that. So then you’ve got to figure out, how can I be better? How can I put myself in the best position to deliver when I need to perform? That’s all it was.

“You have a good reflection because obviously the season is so busy. You don’t really have proper time to reflect. Reflection takes longer than just a day. You have to sit with your thoughts.

“It could come to you when you’re out for a coffee or when you’re running or whatever it might be. Having time to process thoughts is important for me as well. That’s what this off-season gave me. I’m excited for the season to come.”