Bandon Rugby Club trailblazer turned down more money in England to stay and fight with Munster and Ireland
AND breathe – Jack Crowley’s two-year contract extension with Munster means the Innishannon man is here to stay, until 2027 at least.
And relax – the Bandon Rugby Club trailblazer turned down the advances of Leicester Tigers and their mega-money offer to stay with his home province. Queue the relief.
And focus – Crowley’s desire to accept less money offered within these shores highlights his desire to drive both Munster and Ireland forward. Even though he would have made substantially more money with the English Premiership club, the lure of the red and the green was too hard to resist. That’s good news for supporters of both.
This is where Crowley wants to play and grow, and the 25-year-old feels Munster and Ireland offer him the best chance to become the best version of himself. He knows he will need to hit new heights in his battle with Sam Prendergast for the Ireland No. 10 jersey, and that narrative is here to stay until one of the two makes a decisive move – Crowley will hope he becomes the number one choice and that confidence in his own ability is what makes his stand out from the crowd.
‘I love challenges, obstacles and opportunities. It gets to test you as a person and it gets you to either grow or you learn. For me, you get to always find new areas about yourself that you may not have known beforehand,’ Crowley said this month, reflecting on his challenging Six Nations that saw Prendergast start four of the five games at No. 10.
‘Life is a rollercoaster and you’ve got to learn to go with it. I know it is a cliché saying it, but it is. If you think it’s all going to be perfect and smooth and sunsets, then you’re lying to yourself. You have to be able to understand the situation that is in front of you and then give your best to that situation.’
We saw Crowley’s reaction in recent weeks for Munster – there were back-to-back man-of-the-match performances, first against Connacht in the URC and then against La Rochelle in the Champions Cup, including that drop goal. They are the days he would have missed if he moved to Leicester. And he would also have given up the chance to add to his 24 Ireland caps, and experiences like playing in a World Cup and guiding Ireland to Six Nations glory, both of which he has already achieved. Now that his contract situation has been sorted out, and there’s certainty over what the next few years will look like, it allows Crowley to focus on improving his own game and moving to the next level – that’s good news for both his club and country.
High up on his ‘reasons to stay’ list will have been the knowledge that if he joined Leicester, he would have made himself ineligible for Ireland, removing himself from selection. That appears to be too big a price to pay, despite Leicester offering him in excess of €700k per year to move across the Irish Sea.
His contract extension with Munster won’t match that figure as he wasn’t awarded a coveted central contract, but this is a PONI (player of national interest) deal, so his provincial contract will be topped up by the IRFU. It’s a deal he has earned, having elevated himself to a central character for Munster and Ireland. Simon Zebo, one of the few players to take themselves out of Ireland selection by moving abroad to Racing 92 in 2018, thinks so too.
‘For a flyhalf he brings great physicality, his distribution is very good and his killer instinct – when to strike, when to let the backs outside him go and have the ball,’ Zebo explained.
‘I think the finer details around his game, like around the accuracy of where the kick goes, if it’s a contestable kick, the finer details he has really honed in on and added to his game. Slowly but surely he has become pretty all-rounded. He is huge for Munster – his relationship with Craig Casey is essential,’ added Zebo, and the good news is Crowley and Casey can grow their partnership, with Munster, and hopefully with Ireland.
