Ireland rugby talking points: Jack Crowley faces battle for out-half spot

Ireland conclude their Autumn Nations Series campaign with the visit of Australia to the Aviva Stadium on Saturday. 

Here we look at the main talking points around this highly anticipated fixture.

Irish issues:

The lineout, scrum and discipline all improved in the 52-17 win over Fiji last weekend, but this Saturday should prove a better barometer of whether there has been a tangible improvement in these aspects of Ireland’s play.

Opposition kickers had landed 54 points from penalties in Ireland’s previous games against South Africa, New Zealand and Argentina. Given those stats it seems strange that Ireland actually won two of those Tests.

While Fiji were not the sternest of examinations, it must be noted that Ireland got lucky early on, as Sam Prendergast could easily have had his yellow card upgraded to red for his reckless shoulder hit on Kitione Salawa. 

If Ireland had to play 70 minutes with just 14 men the scoreline would have looked a lot different by the final whistle.

The 10 battle:

The Irish media seems keen to get a Jack Crowley v Sam Prendergast battle going for the Ireland no. 10 shirt, but it does not have to be that way, as Ireland needs both of them.

A look back at the respective careers of David Humphreys and Ronan O’Gara show that it does not have to be a choice between one quality out-half and another. 

Humphreys won 72 caps between 1996 and 2006, with O’Gara collecting 128 between 2000 and 2013. 

There was a six-year crossover where they ‘battled’ for the jersey, but ultimately both got ample game time.

Prendergast is clearly extremely talented, but the rush to anoint him as Jonathan Sexton’s successor seems a tad premature. 

His first 30 minutes against Fiji were poor, but to his credit, he settled afterwards and displayed the range of his passing from hand as well as his deft kicking game. The jury is still very much out as to whether he is ready to start a game of this magnitude.

Crowley has put in the hard work since debuting against Fiji two years ago, with him being one of the few out-halves in Irish rugby history to lead the nation to Six Nations glory. It certainly is not a huge club.

He has now reached the 18-cap mark, and with it usually taking until caps 20 to 30 before a player really feels they truly belong at international level, we could well be on the verge of seeing the best of the Innishannon man in Irish colours.

Prendergast does look to be the player Ireland need to push as his back-up though, so getting both of them on the pitch can only be a positive.

Wallaby resurgence:

With the Lions touring Australia next summer the Lions marketing team were probably starting to get concerned when Australia lost 67-27 to Argentina in September and finished rock bottom of the Rugby Championship table.

The Joe Schmidt-coached side looked a shambles, but this current tour of Europe has seen green shoots in the Wallaby gold.

They beat England 37-42 in a Twickenham thriller, before blasting away poor Wales on a scoreline of 20-52 eight days later. 

Last week did see them come unstuck when conceding four tries in a 27-13 loss to Scotland, but despite this, they look a much bigger challenge to Ireland than they appeared to be a month ago.

Schmidt has unearthed gems such as 20 stone loose head Angus Bell and exciting rugby league convert Joseph-Aukuso Sua’ali’I, and it was noticeable how the Wallaby challenge crumbled after Sua’ali’i left the Murrayfield pitch after half an hour with an arm injury.

Irish fans will be hoping he makes a quick recovery, as he has the scope to become a global star in the game, and the prospect of seeing his battle with the Irish midfield is a mouthwatering one.