Ireland are 'confident' that Jack Crowley will stay in Irish rugby

IRELAND INTERIM HEAD coach Simon Easterby said they are “confident” that Jack Crowley will sign a new deal to stay in Irish rugby beyond the end of this season.

Munster out-half Crowley’s current contract expires this summer and English club Leicester have made an approach for the 25-year-old.

Crowley returns to Ireland’s number 10 shirt this weekend against Italy having played back-up to 22-year-old Sam Prendergast so far in this Six Nations.

Crowley will make a final decision on his future following this championship, with a new two-year contract offer from Munster on the table.

And despite Prendergast having started the last six Ireland games up to this point, Easterby stressed that Crowley remains a key man in the Irish set-up.

“Jack knows how important he is to us,” said Easterby. “Regardless of selection across the last four games, he understands the role that he has and the standing he has in the group.

“He’s a brilliant person first and foremost, he’s a great pro, he’s always looking to get better and we believe that for him to keep getting better, keeping getting experiences at this level and keep driving us forward as a team and being competitive in the number 10 position in particular, it’s important that he obviously plays his rugby in Ireland.

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“And we are confident that will continue to happen.”

As for the decision to bring Crowley into Ireland’s starting XV this weekend, with Prendergast dropping to the bench, Easterby explained why they felt it was right.

“I guess every week you look at the different make-up of the team and how that fits how you want to play and the performance,” said Easterby.

“Regardless of the result last week, we were looking at making changes. Jack’s been brilliant, working away, supporting Sam in his first experiences of the Six Nations.

“Jack had that last year and we just felt like it was the right thing to do for Jack, to get him to lead the week.

“It was a pretty physical game last week, it took a lot out of a lot of players in particular. That role that Sam has done has been brilliant in terms of leading the team. It takes a lot of physical effort, but also mental effort.

“It will be a good week to freshen things up a little bit. Sam’s got a different role now to play, coming off the bench, and it allows Jack, who is a bit fresher, to lead the week. I just thought it was the right thing to do there.”

Easterby has made five other changes to Ireland’s starting team as James Lowe, Mack Hansen, James Ryan, Garry Ringrose, and Jack Conan come in.

Peter O’Mahony and Conor Murray will feature in their final games for Ireland off the bench, although Cian Healy has already played his last Test after Jack Boyle was preferred as the replacement loosehead.

“I had a conversation with Cian early part of the week and it is tough but we have very limited time to get players these types of experiences,” said Easterby.

“So the likes of Jack Boyle who has come in on the bench, he has been really good in training, he’s been excellent. He’s gone back to play for Leinster, he was good in a short space of time in the final few minutes against Wales and we don’t have many opportunities to do that.

“We don’t have many opportunities at international level for meaningful games to get game experiences, get guys game time, so that was the conversation I had with Cian.

I thought last week was so fitting for all three of them, the send off they had, how the squad recognised that internally, how it was recognised externally in the Aviva and the nation, loads of messages coming in from people in terms of what they’ve given the jersey.

“Cian has been at the forefront of that. He was obviously disappointed but he understood the rationale behind it and he has been brilliant in the week. He will only make Jack’s role that much more effective by being the best team-mate that he can be. Cian gets it.”