Jack Crowley is set to return at outhalf when the Ireland team to face Italy is announced on Thursday morning, with Simon Easterby expected to make up to five other changes to the starting XV for Saturday’s Six Nations finale in the Stadio Olimpico (kick-off 3.15pm local time/2.15pm Irish).
Ireland’s options have been increased by the return from injury of Mack Hansen and Jame Lowe, as well as Garry Ringrose from suspension, with all three likely to be recalled to the starting XV. James Ryan is also in line for a recall in the secondrow, while it will be a surprise if Jack Conan’s fine form is not rewarded with a second start in this championship, possibly with number six on his back, after his selection at number eight against Wales was restricted to 43 minutes due to a back issue.
Peter O’Mahony is seemingly set to bid farewell to his Test career from the bench, and likewise Conor Murray. By contrast, it could be that Cian Healy has signed off on his 137-cap international career in last week’s defeat by France, as Jack Boyle is in line to win his second cap after his eye-catching 10-minute cameo on debut in the third-round win over Wales.
All the signs are that Tadhg Furlong will make a belated first appearance of this Six Nations off the bench in Rome after finally recovering from the calf issue which has frustrated him since he last played in Leinster’s Challenge Cup win over La Rochelle in December.
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In the expectation of Easterby and co reverting to a 5-3 split, Joe McCarthy, Sam Prendergast and Bundee Aki, all of whom started last week, could complete the bench, with Ryan Baird missing out, thus completing what must be a confusing and frustrating campaign for the Leinster player.
But it is the selection of Crowley which is the most interesting, all the more so in the week that’s in it, given Leicester Tigers’ financially attractive offer to lure the Munster man to Welford Road has come to light.
An ever-present in last season’s Six Nations title defence and in the summer Tests against the Springboks, Crowley has effectively been relegated to second-choice outhalf from the midway point in the November series until this week.
As a result, despite making a strong impression as a replacement at outhalf for the final quarter in the opening win over England, Crowley has been restricted to stints of 14, eight and 24 minutes, and all at fullback, in Ireland’s ensuing three games.
Viewed in that light, Leicester’s offer in excess of €600,000 per season for Crowley to join them when his contract expires at the end of the current season is a cleverly opportunist move for the Munster man, and one which also places a greater value on him as it is more than double the value of his current provincial contract.
Crowley had seemed well placed to be promoted to a central contract at the end of his existing deal last season when he inherited the Ireland number 10 jersey in the immediate aftermath of the 2023 Rugby World Cup and Johnny Sexton’s retirement.
He overcame a few errors in the first half of last season’s Six Nations opener in Marseille with a mentally strong and telling performance, scoring 13 points in a record-breaking 38-17 away win over France, and ultimately played every minute in Ireland’s title defence.
He also started both summer Tests in South Africa, albeit he was replaced for the final quarter of the second Test when Ciarán Frawley landed two drop goals to earn a famous win. Crowley also started the Autumn Nations Series games against New Zealand and Argentina, after which Prendergast started the wins against Fiji and Australia, as well as the first four rounds of this championship.
It seems highly unlikely that Crowley’s recall is with the Leicester offer in mind, but it’s still a timely reminder to the Munster outhalf that he hasn’t been cast completely adrift in light of Prendergast’s anointment.
Crowley has been offered an improved, IRFU enhanced two-year, so-called Poni (player of national interest) provincial contract before the Six Nations, but even so this evidently still comes well short of Leicester’s valuation of the versatile 25-year-old Cork man.
Yet to lose Crowley, on top of Ben Healy moving to Edinburgh and Joey Carbery to Bordeaux/Bègles, would be a hammer blow to the troubled province, and add to an Irish outhalf exodus which is also seeing Ross Byrne move to Gloucester next season.
There are no outhalves and only one Munster player (Tadhg Beirne) among the IRFU’s 14 central contracts for next season. Munster will also have noted that Rabah Slimani’s renewed contract with Leinster has been confirmed this week despite statements prohibiting provinces signing overseas props by the Union’s performance director David Humphreys.
Ironically Humphreys’s RFU counterpart, and former London Irish and Ireland team-mate Conor O’Shea, has included three outhalves among the 17 English players with enhanced elite player squad contracts this season, namely Marcus Smith, Fin Smith and George Ford. This is presumably to guard against any further outhalf departures in light of Owen Farrell’s move to Racing 92.
The IRFU could do worse than make a similar statement of faith in Crowley and Prendergast. Otherwise, Humphreys, Andy Farrell and Munster have a job on their hands keeping one of Ireland’s two leading outhalves beyond this season.
IRELAND (possible v Italy): Hugo Keenan (Leinster); Mack Hansen (Connacht), Garry Ringrose (Leinster), Robbie Henshaw (Leinster), James Lowe (Leinster); Jack Crowley (Munster), Jamison Gibson-Park (Leinster); Andrew Porter (Leinster), Dan Sheehan (Leinster), Finlay Bealham (Connacht); James Ryan (Leinster), Tadhg Beirne (Munster); Jack Conan (Leinster), Josh van der Flier (Leinster), Caelan Doris ((Leinster, capt).
Replacements: Rob Herring (Ulster), Jack Boyle (Leinster), Tadhg Furlong (Leinster), Joe McCarthy (Leinster), Peter O’Mahony (Munster), Conor Murray (Munster), Sam Prendergast (Leinster), Bundee Aki (Connacht).
