Jack Crowley says “nothing is confirmed” as his future with Munster remains up in the air.
The Ireland and Munster out-half is yet to decide on where his future lies, as he mulls over a lucrative offer from the Leicester Tigers, as well as a deal from his home province.
On Saturday, Munster’s interim coach and head of rugby operations Ian Costello said he was “confident” Crowley would be playing his rugby at Thomond Park next season, but there have been conflicting reports in recent days around how close he is to signing on for another deal in Ireland.
The 25-year-old was tight-lipped when pressed for details on negotiations.
“No pen to paper on anything, so that’s the current situation.
“With the magnitude of this week, and even the priority of last week, they always take centre fold. As you go on in your career you learn to compartmentalise certain decisions like this.
“When it comes to on-field stuff, that requires all your attention and particularly a week like this in Europe requires all my attention. I’m fortunate that I have people in the background who are doing that for me, and will hopefully come to the best conclusion.”
While the offer from Leicester is believed to be far higher than his potential deal in Ireland, the opportunity cost would be his international career.
As things stand, the IRFU do not consider players for selection who are based outside the four provinces.
And Crowley says his desire to add to his 24 Irish caps carries a lot of weight.
“When making a decision you have to weigh up everything and you’ve got to go through it with a fine comb. And for me, that’s obviously a massive element of a decision like this.
“It’s one that you’ve got to understand both sides of it. And for me it’s, it’s about weighing up everything, almost living it and what it feels like and then coming back to your values and principles and the way in which you want to go about things.”
The Cork man’s battle with Leinster’s Sam Prendergast for the Ireland number 10 shirt has led to a culture war developing among a section of Irish rugby supporters online, which became bitter during the Six Nations, as Prendergast started four games at out-half, while Crowley did so in the final game against Italy, while also featuring four times off the bench.
And while the outside noise across the last six months has been poisonous at times, Crowley says neither he nor Prendergast are paying attention to it.
“I’d hate if anyone thought that I was putting myself in an individual battle with any other player because it’s not going to serve me well, it’s not going to serve the team well. It’s certainly not going to serve the other individual well.
“To make a great environment, a successful environment, you’ve got to have competitors and just because we’re all competitors and want to be in the starting jersey doesn’t mean we hate each other at all.
“It’s potentially the opposite because I think like attracts like, you know what I mean? I think we have such respect for each other as competitors, people that go toe to toe have more respect for each other than anything else.
“I know it’s difficult, and I appreciate to see from the outside, but that’s all it is. And at the end of the day, you’re playing in a team and I know that the team element comes in a lot, but that’s truly what it is.
“And if any individual started playing for himself, I think it would become very clear in the way that he’s playing on the pitch as well,” he added.
