Ireland scraped over the line in a three-point win over Felipe Contepomi's Argentina on Friday night, after a game that once again failed to live up to the high expectations now placed on this Ireland team.
While as a whole Ireland's performance might have been somewhat underwhelming, Friday's win was not without its positives.
Chief among them was the growing depth at out-half, not only did twenty-one-year-old Sam Prendergast come on to make an impressive international debut, but Munster man Jack Crowley also grabbed the Irish starting jersey with both hands.
Despite some minor mistakes in the second half, Crowley delivered an emphatic opening half of rugby that saw him cross the whitewash himself and execute a sensational O'Gara-esque drop goal at a crucial time for Ireland.
That said, Crowley was fortunate to remain on the pitch after he avoided a HIA for a heavy blow to the head from Argentina's Matias Moroni, a hit that earned Moroni ten minutes in the sin bin and saw Argentina's opening try scratched off.
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Former All-Black takes aim at 'screaming' Jack Crowley
While Moroni received a well-deserved yellow card for the tackle on Crowley, plenty of viewers were puzzled as to how Jack Crowley, who had sustained a heavy blow to the head wasn't removed for a HIA.
However, few have made their opinions as ardently known as former All Black Steve Devine who slammed both Crowley and the Irish team on New Zealand radio station SENZ.
I used to be a great fan of the Irish. I used to love how they played rugby and now I think it’s all been brought undone by negative rugby in terms of Jack Crowley, he gets a little touch on the head, there’s been a lot of hard men that have played rugby very hard over the years for Ireland, I think it’s all been undone by this soccer mentality. You get hit in the head and you go down like you’re injured and it cost Argentina.
Argentina score a great try after five minutes and it gets brought back to the other end of the field because Jack Crowley got a finger laid on his head and he fell over screaming. It was barely a touch. There was then a penalty in the corner and they took the penalty and scored a try.
It was basically a 14-point turnaround. And Crowley doesn’t have to go off with a suspected head injury even though he fell to the ground, rolling around in pain, holding his head.
Although the yellow card and subsequent tries proved crucial in Ireland's win over Argentina, Moroni could have absolutely no complaints about the manner in which he was sent off, other than to be thankful that the consequences were limited to a sin-bin.
Devine's strong words weren't just limited to Crowley either, with the ten-cap All-Black also taking aim at Andy Farrell's men, claiming they'd resorted to 'rolling around on the ground' to win games.
That’s disgusting. I don’t watch soccer because we have grown men rolling around on the ground when they’re injured.
I don’t want to see it and if that’s what Ireland have got to resort to win matches then I want nothing to do with them, I’ve had enough of them.
While Ireland's performance may have been subpar, the accusations made by Devine appear completely removed from the game that Irish fans were watching on Friday night.
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