Jack Crowley was stupendous in Munster’s victory over the Stormers last weekend.

These past three weeks have been an eventful one for Crowley and a case could be made that the pecking order for that coveted Irish number ten jersey has been turned upside down.

Joe Molloy was joined by the journalist Gerry Thornley on Monday Night Rugby to discuss the rise of Crowley.

“Yeah, he oozes composure, doesn't he,” asked Thornley. “He just has great body language on the pitch, a proper out half presence about him.”

“And yet, there is substance behind it. Everything behind it is real.”

“He missed two years virtually in a row through the pandemic at a prime developmental stage, just coming out of the under 20s. I'd say he probably didn't play a rugby match between about 19 and 21. I remember bumping into him once in a coffee place. He was with a bunch of the Irish sevens lads. They're just training up in Dublin and chatting to him for a while. He hadn't played a match in about a year because there's no AIL; there was nothing.”

“And so you think of how much that didn't help his growth as a player because normally that's when you play a lot of matches, and you redevelop as a player. And, of course, he's been second choice or third choice in the pecking order at Monster as well, so he's really had to bide his time.”

“It also helps that he has this body language and smells the game. Even that five-minute cameo when he came on in Rome against Italy. Everything just seemed to happen a lot quicker. He's got it all!”

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