JACK Crowley is certainly finding his feet as Ireland’s new No. 10 – his try-scoring performance in the Six Nations’ whitewash of Italy (36-0) at the Aviva Stadium on Sunday suggested the Innishannon man is here to stay.
Crowley touched down for his first senior try – he hasn’t scored a try yet for Munster – just 11 minutes into a game that Ireland dominated.
‘That was an unbelievable try, actually,’ head coach Andy Farrell said afterwards, particularly impressed by Crowley’s role in the build-up and then to finish off the move.
‘It was a special try for him,’ Farrell added, and he would have been impressed, too, by the former Bandon RFC star’s role in Ireland’s second try, his one-handed offload a moment of magic before Dan Sheehan crossed the line.
Crowley also had to fill in at full back when Hugo Keenan went off and Harry Byrne took on flyhalf duties, but he took it all in his stride. Like the Six Nations opener against France, this wasn’t flawless either, but Crowley has taken on the challenge of succeeding Johnny Sexton better than most could have imagined. It’s back-to-back strong performances.
‘He played really well at 10. When he went to 15 a few errors crept in there but we’ll work on that,’ Farrell added, while James Lowe has also been impressed by how the 24-year-old has stood up.
‘A lot of pressure on him, obviously,’ Lowe said, ‘there have been some world-class tens come before him but he has taken it in his stride. He’s awesome, growing into it, showed a bit to his game as well, slotting into 15 as well. He is a young man with a good head in his shoulders and he could go far in this game.’
