THE irony wasn’t lost on Ronan O’Gara. The Cork man who rose to fame wearing the number 10 jersey of Munster was undone by a West Cork man who is the current holder of the flame, Jack Crowley.
It was Crowley’s sprinkling of stardust that lifted Munster to this simply brilliant Champions Cup last-16 triumph away to O’Gara’s La Rochelle, edging an epic by a single point (25-24) to set a quarter-final back in France this Saturday, against Bordeaux Bègles.
Let’s talk about that drop goal that ultimately decided the O’Gara Derby. With Munster ahead by five points and 11 minutes left, the Bandon Rugby Club trailblazer slipped into a pocket of space, collected the ball and arrowed a kick of such precision and beauty that ice-cold Crowley knew it was going over before anyone else.
With an eight-point lead, Munster had the advantage they needed.
What was once O’Gara’s trademark is now becoming Crowley’s calling card. There’s a new Drop Goal King in town. There was the winning drop goal against Leinster in the 2023 URC semi-final. And now this. Iconic moments.
‘It was pretty ironic how they won it, getting it out to eight points with a peach of a drop goal. I was thinking “that little f**ker”,’ O’Gara smiled after. He knows how good Crowley is and can be – O’Gara tried to sign the Innishannon man for La Rochelle in the past.
‘I’ve seen a lot of good drop goals but that’s a top-class one at a moment that just probably takes the decision away from the referee. With a five-point game maybe you’re thinking okay we’re going to have a chance. But it was a brilliant kick,’ O’Gara admitted, as Munster rose to the occasion to pull off a shock win on French soil.
Munster's Jack Crowley scores a drop goal despite Stade Rochelais' Ultan Dillane best attempts during Munster's brilliant Champions Cup win (25-24) away at Stade Marcel Deflandre.(Photo: Billy Stickland/INPHO)
Crowley couldn’t have picked a better moment or a bigger stage to show, again, he is a man for the big occasion. Clutch Crowley.
While Munster fans wait for white smoke over his new contract, amid Leicester Tigers’ mega-money interest in him, Crowley has threaded back-to-back man-of-the-match performances together to remind us all just how good he is after a Six Nations when he was harshly overlooked for the Ireland outhalf slot.
‘The execution was sublime really,’ former Munster star Alan Quinlan said of Crowley’s drop goal. ‘It was very important for him as a player as well, given what happened in November and the Six Nations.’
Not surprisingly, Crowley was quick to take the spotlight off his performance, instead highlighting the squad effort that carried Munster into this weekend’s quarter-final.
‘Look, I think the credit has to go to the lads who put in the shift up front. We asked them to do a lot today. It wasn't by all means perfect but it never is,’ Crowley said.
‘We spoke all week about how it was going to take a one to 23 to 30-man squad training. We saw that today and you could see how hard it was to break down La Rochelle. It is no joke coming here, it is a serious place.’
And now Crowley and Munster head back to France this weekend, with West Cork fingerprints all over this team. Look at Gavin Coombes’ superb block that led to his second-half try against La Rochelle – incredibly, that was the Skibbereen man’s 50th for Munster. Crowley slotted the conversion to move Munster 17-10 ahead at that stage.
Rosscarbery man John Hodnett in the backrow was one of the real unsung heroes of this triumph. Josh Wycherley, brought on early for Jeremy Loughman, put in a gut-bursting shift. His older brother Fineen Wycherley came on for Jean Kleyn in the second half and proved his worth. Crowley took the headlines here though, as he flipped the drop goal tables on O’Gara. The Munster No. 10 jersey is in good hands – now all supporters want is news of Crowley’s new contract.
