ANDREW TRIMBLE claimed Jack Crowley has “not been getting any love” amid his battle with Sam Prendergast for Ireland’s No10 jersey.
Crowley, 25, has been in a fight to cement himself as Johnny Sexton‘s successor amid the rise of the Leinster starlet.
It started well, as he helped Ireland win the 2024 Six Nations and started the first nine games after Sexton’s retirement.
However, an underwhelming performance against the All Blacks that November has seen Prendergast overtake him.
The 22-year-old started in all but one of Ireland’s Six Nations games this year, with Crowley getting the nod from Andy Farrell for the final day dead rubber against Italy.
This has continued into the summer series, with Prendergast starting the win over Georgia while Crowley replaced him in the starting XV in the 106-7 hammering of Portugal on Saturday.
Speaking on Virgin Media Sport before the latter, Andrew Trimble expressed sympathy for the Munster man, who he believes has not done all that much wrong.
The former Ulster wing said: “It has been difficult and I suppose as Irish rugby commentators or people who are interested, we are often obsessed with 10.
“We were obsessed with Johnny Sexton for years.
“We felt like, okay, Jack Crowley stepped up, won a Six Nations, filled the shoes of Johnny Sexton. Okay, we can stop talking about this for a while. Cue Prendergast.
“It’s been complex, it’s been difficult to get your head around exactly what is going on or what the mechanisms are.”
Trimble believes Crowley has fallen victim to Farrell’s ruthlessness, while suggesting Sam Prendergast has not had it as hard.
He added: “Farrell is known for reading the room, understanding people, connecting with people, but he’s also lesser known for being ruthless.
“On this occasion, I think we have seen the ruthless version of Farrell because we have not heard from Crowley.
“He has gotten absolutely no love from internally.
“Everything has been handed to Prendergast and I think their graphs have crossed a little bit.”
The 40-year-old praised Crowley for responding to circumstances with aplomb.
In the Portugal game that followed Trimble’s comments, he kicked 12 of 15 conversions.
And the former Ireland international said: “I think we have seen a very good version of him.
“I think we have seen a lot of character in him that maybe we haven’t seen from other people if they were in the same circumstances.
“Prendergast probably dropped off towards the end of the season and then the debate has raged as a result but I think Crowley has really handled himself admirably.
“Looking in from the outside, it doesn’t look apparent and obvious what he has done wrong.
“You can only assume there is something; maybe he hasn’t led the team correctly. maybe he hasn’t managed the week correctly behind the scenes.
“I don’t know but certainly what you see on the pitch, it seems tough his last six or nine months since Prendergast got that start.”
