'Jack has been running the side really well this week': Farrell backs Crowley to deliver in Chicago

Ireland out-half Jack Crowley. Pic: Dan Sheridan/Inpho

Returning to a place that “means a little bit more to everyone now”, Andy Farrell has backed both of his two headline Ireland inclusions to help swing what he called the “Battle of Chicago, Round 2” his side’s way.

Munster out-half Jack Crowley and Ulster centre Stuart McCloskey were the names that immediately jumped out from the starting XV Farrell named for Saturday’s reunion with the All Blacks at the same Soldier Field, where Ireland recorded a first-ever victory over the giants of the game.

At different ends of the age, if not experience, scale, that duo form part of a novel-looking backline with Tommy O’Brien winning just a third cap on the wing and Jamie Osbourne deputising at fullback. 

Having selected both very much on recent club form rather than wider pedigree for country, Farrell is adamant that Crowley and McCloskey deserved their shot at New Zealand.

"He deserves it,” Farrell said of the Munster out-half who will win his 27th cap alongside Jamison Gibson-Park with rival Sam Prendergast among the replacements. “[Jack’s] had a great pre-season, come back in, started the season in good form, and it's certainly something that we saw in the first week over here.

“We've had a great camp, getting the lads back together. It certainly shows us where everyone's at as far as the competition and the respect that they're trying to gain from one another. 

"So you watch all of that and you come up with a decision who deserves to start and rightly so, Jack has been running the side really well this week, so we're looking forward to seeing him perform.” 

Jack Crowley, left, and Jamison Gibson-Park during Ireland Rugby squad training at SeatGeek Stadium. Pic: Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile

Farrell would repeat himself verbatim when the topic of McCloskey came up. At 33, the imposing Ulsterman hasn’t won as many caps as he and many observers believe he has merited since his debut in 2016, just 21 in all and none in the last 20 months. Farrell looked relieved to have had a very different midweek chat with McCloskey than he has often had to have.

“He deserves it. The amount of times that I’ve had conversations with Stu about how well he's been playing and, you know, he just needs to be patient and he's been unbelievably patient,” added Farrell. "The amount of times that Stu had been playing well and the other guys have been on top form and had hold of the shirt, and Stu would be going back up the road to Belfast on Wednesday.

“I can't count how many times we've had those type of conversations but he thoroughly deserves his chance this weekend, because again, from the conversations that I've had, from things that I've seen during pre-season, where he's at, he's upped his game certainly in the leadership role there, and that has spilled over into the few performances that he's had so far. So he thoroughly deserves his chance.” 

Farrell and his coaching staff had deliberated long and hard on whether to include returning captain Caelan Doris from the start but in the end held him in reserve with Dan Sheehan skippering the side and an all-Leinster back row of Ryan Baird, Josh van der Flier and Jack Conan.

“Early on in the season, you need that bit of firepower coming off the bench and looking at Caelan, he’s in great nick. He’s chomping at the bit. He’d be a bit disappointed not to start and that’s how you want it. But he’s going to add loads coming off the bench,” Farrell explained.

“Set-piece-wise, we know how difficult a challenge that’s going to be. It always is against New Zealand and certainly was last year and the year before that. We know that Ryan’s a lovely line-out forward so we’re expecting things from him in that regard. So it’s the balance of the back row to start with and how it’s going to continue for the full 80 minutes over.” 

With O’Brien’s inclusion on the wing and the almost certainty that Leinster prop Paddy McCarthy will make his debut off the bench, Farrell has tried to thread the needle that many feel could pinch Ireland hard — the balance between winning now but developing a team for the Rugby World Cup in two years.

“I suppose many teams would be reassessing everything, where they’re at, halfway stage between World Cup cycles,” added Farrell. “It’s being talked about so there’s always a reassessment of all parts of our game and where we’re at, we’ve certainly done that and it’s up to us to make sure that we keep kicking on because staying where we are isn’t going to be good enough going forward.

“This is where you want to be. This is the challenge that you want in front of your team, to see how you react. We’re the privileged ones to be given this opportunity. We constantly say that big opportunities are there to be taken and if they’re not then we’ve got to understand why and learn from that anyway. So in that regard we can’t lose.” 

In spite of the age profile of this Irish crop leaning very much towards 30+, Farrell insisted there is still room for growth — and it’s a necessity.

“It’s about us all [growing],” he said. "I’m including myself and all the coaching and backroom staff, it’s up to us all to keep getting better, to keep improving, to keep challenging one another. To reassess where our standards lie and how we need to kick on with that because every team is going to progress in the next couple of years and we need to be at the forefront of that.”