It’s Tuesday morning, and the running order of the day’s media events has just landed from the IRFU.
Jack Crowley has been selected as one of three players, along with forwards coach Paul O’Connell, to face the press, which suggests that the 24-year-old Cork native will return to the Ireland No.10 jersey when Andy Farrell publicly names his team on Thursday afternoon.
It’s not completely unheard of for a substitute to be put forward for media duty ahead of any given Test match. Still, for the week that’s in it, amid the raging out-half debate, it seems highly unlikely Crowley will be thrust into the public spotlight unless he is about to reclaim his starting spot to take on Australia.
By the time we have finished chatting with O’Connell, James Ryan and Josh van der Flier, it’s Crowley’s turn to face the music.
Just a couple of minutes in his company in a corridor of the Sport Ireland building in Dublin is enough to read between the lines. All is not well.
Last week, Farrell moved away from his usual routine of informing his players of the match day squad on Wednesday morning, as he privately named his team for the win over Fiji first thing on Monday.
This time around, however, Farrell isn’t about to show his hand until the next morning, but considering Crowley has just come from training, it’s clear he knows his fate.
Whatever happened at that session, in terms of how Farrell had set it up, made Crowley realise Sam Prendergast was going to keep hold of his starting spot, which goes some way to explain the Munster out-half’s noticeably downbeat demeanour when he speaks to us.
In fairness, it’s a difficult position to be put in, but the IRFU’s orders are for a Saturday embargo on the following interview, so here we are.
Crowley is no fool. Even before Farrell picked Prendergast (21) ahead of him for Saturday afternoon’s game against the Wallabies at the Aviva Stadium, he was well aware of how much the out-half battle has dominated the agenda.
“I think right now there is obviously a lot of attention on it, but you all know as well as I do, that magnitude of the Irish 10 jersey has been in the history of Ireland as long as you can remember,” Crowley says.
“Obviously, nowadays there is a lot more attention on it, but I think that’s due to the respect of the lads that have gone before us. They have put that jersey in such a high place that it’s for the rest of us to go and fulfil that and take it somewhere special.
“I know if you look back, there is a lot of history, 150 years of the IRFU this year. There have been a lot of great 10s that have gone by, so that’s what all of us are striving to achieve.”
Watching Prendergast steer Ireland to a big, eight-try win over a poor Fijian side was enough to put even more fire in Crowley’s belly, but given that he finds himself on the bench, that motivation must be through the roof.
“I think that’s always been there, it’s the same if you ask any of the 10s that question.
“I think their drive and hunger is there to be in that jersey. It is something, particularly from the outside, you might not, nor should you have that understanding, but as a group, we are really good at competition.
“It’s something that you’ve got to have to push each other, to make each other better and that challenge is one that we all embrace.”
We ask Crowley if he feels that he has a point to prove, which in hindsight feels even more pertinent given that Farrell has given Prendergast a major vote of confidence, all the while saying that Crowley has “a lot of improving” to do.
In his mind, though, such is the weight of expectation on the Ireland No.10 jersey, every time he pulls it on, there is something to prove.
“Yeah, absolutely, you hit it there on the head. If we focus on just ourselves, week in, week out, we’re making a massive mistake. This is one to 15, one to 23, one to 35 when it’s a squad.
“I know that you hear that a lot, but it genuinely is because you saw injuries and whatever, it’s the next man up and everybody has got to be ready.
“If we are continuously focusing on ourselves or that position then you (get distracted)… we’ve got to keep the main thing the main thing, and that’s the team first.
“Each Test has been increasingly harder and this one against Australia is obviously one we have to put massive respect into.
“You want to be involved in every game, but if anything, it grows the hunger and that’s something that will hopefully serve us all.
“I’ve said from the start when I made my first cap or second, I said every time you put on that Irish shirt it’s a special one and I truly mean that,” Crowley adds.
“Every time you get an opportunity, it’s one that you do not look back and take for granted — nothing is guaranteed.
“I’m always trying to put my best foot forward and do what’s best for the team and put a good performance in, and you know, some days it is (good) and some days it isn’t.
“You’ve got to roll with it and pick yourself back up and go again.”
That last line rings true even more, given how the cards have fallen for the final Ireland game of the year.
Crowley hasn’t got to this stage of his career without building up a fair degree of mental resilience in the process. He’ll need every ounce of that to bounce back and for the long road ahead.