Jack Crowley is set to stay with Munster after agreeing a new contract with his home province.
The 25-year-old had received a more remunerative offer from Leicester Tigers but has opted to remain in Ireland.
His decision clearly demonstrates how much Crowley wants to play for both Munster and Ireland given his provincial contract will probably still be less than half the reputed €750,000 per year he was offered by Leicester.
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Crowley played every minute of Ireland’s five-game campaign when they retained their Six Nations title last season in the post-Johnny Sexton era and also started both of last summer’s Tests in South Africa, as well as the opening games of the Autumn Internationals against New Zealand and Argentina.
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However, Sam Prendergast then started Ireland’s remaining two November Tests and the first four rounds of this year’s Six Nations before Crowley was recalled to the 10 jersey for the final game against Italy in Rome.
Whereas, for example, Joe McCarthy was promoted to a central contract for next season as one of three locks – in addition to James Ryan and Tadhg Beirne – neither Crowley nor Prendergast (who recently signed a new provincial contract with Leinster) received such an offer.
Of the 14 players currently under central contracts with the IRFU for next season, Beirne is the only Munster representative in the group which includes no outhalves. For comparison, the RFU have three outhalves among the 17 England players on enhanced Elite Player Squad (EPS) contracts, also known as “hybrid contracts”.
Ireland’s win in Rome was Crowley’s only start at outhalf since Munster lost 34-32 to Northampton in January prior to last Sunday’s URC game against Connacht at MacHale Park, in which he scored 15 points in a masterful Man of the Match display.
This was Crowley’s 64th appearance over the last five seasons with Munster and his decision to stay will be a huge relief for the province given he is one of their key players, all the more so since Ben Healy and Joey Carbery moved to Edinburgh and Bordeaux Bègles over the last two summers.
Crowley, who is represented by Navy Blue Sports agency, can supplement his earnings and make up a portion of the significant difference in salary offered to him by Leicester with sponsorship deals, and to that end he has ambassadorial roles with Pinergy and Adidas.
But his decision shows he is primarily driven by the desire to play for Munster and Ireland.
