Jack Crowley has explained why he won't be relying on Ronan O'Gara's pre-Six Nations questions about his consistency to get up for this Saturday's crunch Champions Cup Round of Sixteen clash with La Rochelle.
The Munster out-half was speaking ahead of his side's clash with Ronan O'Gara's men at the launch of Pinergy's "“Going Solar Guide".
Crowley's 'yo-yo' form had been the subject of criticism for O'Gara ahead of this year's Six Nations who claimed that the Munster out-half had little right to be starting in the Ireland XV after an inconsistent run of form provincially.
He'd want to be careful, he might find himself out of the 23 which happens sometimes with the 10s.
He had a fantastic Six Nations for Ireland (in 2024)...but he didn't kick on. He had the South African tour and he opened the door for competitors to keep having bites. In November it was the same.
Sam has been exceptional for Leinster. Jack has been like a yo-yo for Munster and, when you're a yo-yo for Munster, you don't get in the Irish team.
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Jack Crowley explains why he won't be using ROG's criticism as fuel this weekend
While Crowley was aware of the questions his former jersey holder had lobbied against him in January, he explained that as a professional rugby player, using such criticisms to motivate performances wasn't in his playbook, and was rarely a sustainable way of performing on the biggest days.
It's never the case, as a professional you've to be so careful with your fuel and your motivation, because certain fuels they burn out a lot faster than others and you've got to pick the one that will be able to serve you the best for the longest.
It's something that you truly can't as a player, some are different, but for me that's not where I get my fuel, it's all stuff that I can control.
Addressing the romantic element of Ronan O'Gara facing his former time, Crowley was under no illusions about the task that lay ahead and laughed at the prospect that getting hit by the might of Will Skelton could ever be classified as 'romantic'.
"There's certainly nothing romantic when you're getting a 120kg fella like Skelton hitting your ribs and I can tell you that, there's certainly nothing romantic on the field I can tell you that," said Crowley.
The Munster out-half has enjoyed a marked-up turn in form in recent weeks, and was nothing short of exceptional alongside the returning Craig Casey in Munster's URC defeat of Connacht in Castlebar last Saturday afternoon.
Despite La Rochelle boss Ronan O'Gara revealing that he would not be watching the game to see Crowley's performance, he did admit that he had been somewhat harsh on Jack Crowley in his earlier criticisms, revealing that he had actually tried to bring him to La Rochelle some years ago.
I was harsh on Jack, once or twice, because I know how high his ceiling is. Straight away, I was like, ‘Get this guy. I would like to work with him’. For me, I would like to think that’s a compliment."
It’s hard for people to understand, but I haven’t watched – and I won’t watch – the Munster versus Connacht game. That’s because I’ve enough issues here, in our own game. It’s very little to do with the opposition. So, all my energies this week are going into us. The beauty about this team is, when we get it right, which we’ve shown, the opposition doesn’t matter.
That’s not arrogant, that’s not cocky, but it’s a huge task in front of me to get our team right. Get this Stade Rochelais team right. Once we do that, we can get our performances.
With Champions Cup places and maybe even spot on a Lions squad at play this weekend, Jack Crowley and Munster have everything to play for against a La Rochelle side who have been suffering greatly in the Top 14 of late.
Munster will travel to La Rochelle to take on Ronan O'Gara's men this Saturday, with kick off set for 17:30.
Munster Rugby star Jack Crowley launched Pinergy’s “Going Solar Guide.” This exciting announcement coincides with Pinergy’s continued commitment to Munster Rugby’s sustainability ambitions as part of the United Nations Sports for Climate Action programme. To keep up to date with Jack’s partnership, visit @Pinergyenergy on Instagram for more. #OwnTheMoment
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