"Settled the Debate" - Ex-Ireland star Luke Fitzgerald backs Jack Crowley over Sam Prendergast

Jack Crowley stepped up to start against England, and the Munster man put in a tremendous effort in the 10 jersey, as Ireland secured a record win at Twickenham. This followed Crowley's impressive shift from the bench against Italy a week prior as the 26-year-old turn the tide for the comeback win in Dublin.

In a discussion with BetVictor Casino, Fitzgerald sees only one man for the job for the rest of the Six Nations. Fitzgerald expressed how he would not even pick Prendergast to start at fly half for Leinster, with Harry Byrne continuing to impress for the province.

"I think Jack Crowley has settled the debate. There's no way Prendergast has gone away; he’s a mercurial talent. But even in a Leinster context, I think Harry Byrne should be picked ahead of Sam Prendergast." Fitzgerald said.

"Sam's defence is just too much of a liability. The difference between what you get in attack with him and what you get with Crowley versus the difference in defence—it's just not enough. He's just too much of a liability. I think he needs to go away, put a bit of muscle on, get his technique sorted out and his head sorted out.

"It was not all just about technique. It's the head thing too that he's got to get sorted because he can't be picked, in my opinion, based on what he's putting out there. Crowley is really brave. Some of the tackles Crowley put in against England were terrific. I thought he was outstanding. He had a couple of dodgy kicks and wasted seven points which could have been important at one juncture."

There is certainly no denying that Crowley has maximised his minutes throughout the 2026 Six Nations, with Fitzgerald impressed by the 'mentality' shown by the Munster man. Crowley is a former URC winner with the Irish province and has been to the Six Nations mountain top having been apart of Ireland 2023 and 2024 back to back title triumphs.

"I have always liked Jack’s mentality. I think he's a tough guy." Fitzgerald added. "He's a guy for the big occasions. He needs to work on those kicks from the tee. Thomas Ramos would have got those ones, Finn Russell too, Johnny Sexton probably, Dan Biggar and Jonny Wilkinson as well. That's where you want to be aiming for. You don't want to be aiming for the middle of the pack.

"That's not what Crowley's about in my opinion. He's a super competitor. I saw him ripping into Jeremy Loughman at one point in the game as well, which told me, ‘He's up for this.’

"He looks confident if he's pulling guys up for mistakes when he’s only just back on the team. So Jack is in pole position. I think it bodes well now that they have a little bit more certainty about that 10 slot. What he's got now is a nice blueprint to work from that he doesn't have to think that hard about. To me, that'll allow him to play well. You need to take as much of the thinking out of that position as possible."