On Broadway, the preview shows before opening night are staged for a live audience but not the critics. In the build-up to a World Cup, the cast and crew have no such buffer. So, Ireland fluffed some lines, and missed some cues, and were ad-libbing at times. In the second half the crowd swallowed their grumbling, politely and sympathetically. The show goes on.
In these warm-up games, though, there is always something on the line for somebody. Craig Casey and Jack Crowley are certain to be in the squad, but as what? Understudies? Third choice? Before the next World Cup they could be Ireland’s undisputed nine and 10, but they’re young still, and searching for ways to make Andy Farrell think twice.
Their partnership on Saturday night only lasted for the first half, but in that time they were electric. There was nothing new in Caelan Doris’s brilliance or Stuart McCloskey’s power, or other familiar faces doing the stuff that everyone expects, but Casey and Crowley were handed control of the levers in a match that won’t have felt inconsequential to them. They seized their chance.
Crowley is a beautiful footballer: balanced, composed, creative. He’s not as big as Johnny Sexton or Ross Byrne, but he doesn’t lack for guts. He stands flat, releases the ball late and takes the consequences, just as Ronan O’Gara used to do. Four times on Saturday night he was emptied in contact. On the third occasion, the hit was late and mean and Crowley needed three or four minutes of treatment before he could continue. In an outhalf, durability is essential.
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In the first half Crowley was commanding. His distribution was terrific, mostly simple and smart, but on a couple of occasions he went wide early with long passes that stretched the Italian cover and added instant acceleration to an Irish attack. Those passes took vision and confidence and Crowley has those qualities in spades.
Kicking is his last thought, though he has that facility too. He played one towering cross-field kick that drew an admiring response from the crowd while it was in mid-air. From inside the Irish half he spotted a space in the corner, behind the Italian fullback, and landed the ball in an area smaller than a helicopter pad.
But what Crowley really wants to do is attack. Ireland’s efficiency at the breakdown was really good in the first half, and it set the platform for Casey and Crowley to keep Ireland’s attack flowing.
In the move that led to Doris’s first try, Crowley and Casey were producer and director. Ireland were awarded a penalty just inside Italy’s half, and without seeking permission or a second opinion, Casey tapped the penalty and surged. When the ball was recycled Crowley played a raking skip-two pass to Jimmy O’Brien on the right wing and Ireland’s attack had been set alight on a short fuse.
When Ireland were awarded another penalty, just outside Italy’s 22, Casey tried to tap and go again until the referee paused the play to issue a yellow card. The second tap from Casey may have been too much; the last thing Ireland need is a player to be isolated and turned over in a promising attacking position. But it reflects the attitude that informs everything Casey does: bold, aggressive, borderline bolshie.
His energy and urgency are infectious. For the way Ireland want to play, they need their number nine to sustain a high tempo. Jamison Gibson-Park provides that, as well as so much else. But it can’t be frantic. Casey’s decision-making has come under scrutiny in the past, but on Saturday night he didn’t do anything scatty. His passing was fast and accurate and for the receiver that buys a precious microsecond. For someone like Crowley, that’s all he’s looking for.
Casey’s all-round game was good. He launched three box-kicks and two of them were on the money. Early in the game he used his dancing feet in the corner to nearly force a try before the move was whistled up for an earlier infringement. Because of Casey’s size, and because he’s from Munster, the comparison with Peter Stringer is often trotted out. Stringer had a lightning pass too, but he was far less inclined to make a carry and challenge the opposition backrow; Casey has no such reticence.
At half-time the Irish players ran towards the tunnel but Casey sprinted, as if this was another detail that required his undiluted commitment. Five minutes into the second half, though, he was forced to go off with a small issue in his lower back. On the sideline he stuffed a hot water bottle down his shorts, like a scene from Steptoe and Son.
By then Ciarán Frawley had come on at 10 and Crowley had moved to fullback. Munster have used him there occasionally over the last couple of seasons, and at centre too. He has the gas and the desire to attack space and make a break, as he showed in the first half, when he went for a gap inside the Italian half.
In the contest to be the back-up outhalf at the World Cup, that is Crowley’s point of difference. Byrne has far more experience and his goalkicking is better, but Crowley has more X-factor. He is more likely to do something daring. Will that be enough to force a change in the rankings? Crowley will get another chance before the tournament.
In time he will be the leading man.
