Former Munster and Ireland wing Simon Zebo believes Jack Crowley is "probably the man who deserves the shot" at No 10 for Saturday's Six Nations trip to Twickenham.
His battle with Sam Prendergast for the shirt has garnered endless column inches and fuelled hours of debate, but it's Crowley who gets the nod for the weekend showdown across the water, after head coach Andy Farrell opted to leave Prendergast out of his matchday 23.
Prendergast started last weekend's flawed victory over Italy, with Crowley impressing off the bench; notwithstanding his error in kicking the ball dead instead of into touch which denied Ireland a chance to chase a bonus try.
Zebo, speaking to RTÉ Radio 1's Inside Sport, empathised with Prendergast, but ultimately backed Farrell's out-half call.
"Jack's been in good form." he said. "I think they're probably expecting a physical battle coming from the English. You look at the back row that they've selected, there's going to be plenty of ball carriers there who will be coming down that channel. Going with the selection of Jack is probably the right call on this occasion, given the good form that he's been in.
"It's not a slight on Sam. He'd be more than capable of performing in this match. But it's nice that (Farrell) is rewarding a bit of form and especially, you know, the impact he's gotten from his bench last game out against Italy (that) was all important in getting the victory in that game."
It's a tough one to take for Prendergast (above). He's been under the spotlight and will now have to kick his heels as Ireland look to scalp an England side still smarting from their loss to Scotland at Murrayfield last time out.
"I'm sure like Andy would have chatted with him and given him his reasons," added Zebo.
"A lot of it has to be to reward form. It's not necessarily that Sam's having a bad game every time he's going out. It's a fine line, you know? I think they were relatively lucky to beat Italy. That's how I saw it.
"The subs that came on performed so well. The team looked like they were playing a lot better when Jack came on. Potentially they just want to start like that against England away from home. And Sam coming off the bench, he doesn't cover that much. He'll cover the No 10 slot but someone like Ciarán Frawley or Tommy O'Brien, you can see a bit more pace and a bit more physicality coming from the bench in terms of impact.
"I wouldn't say that rules out Sam from potentially starting the next game or being involved. It's just for this specific game I do see it as the right call and I tend to agree with Andy, but I'm a big fan of Sam Prendergast. I think he's going to have a class career.
"I just think right now, Jack's form with Ireland - it hasn't been amazing with Munster - but right now with Ireland, he's probably the man who deserves the shot.
"This is professional sports, they're grown men that you have to be able to accept the fact that you are not going to start every game. This is the way you were conditioned since you were a child.
"It's not just Sam. It happens consistently. It's tough and it's never nice, especially for Sam - he's young and it's in the middle of the championship. But it's the way professional sport is. You have to be able to deal with this."
Simon Zebo tells #InsideSport why he feels it is right that Jack Crowley starts at fly-half against England.
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) February 19, 2026
He said it is "no slight against" Sam Prendergast, who is left out of the squad.
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It's been a difficult few days for Edwin Edogbo for very different reasons.
The IRFU is investigating comments made under their post on X marking the Cork man's debut against Italy with the union subsequently restricting replies to the post celebrating the feat of the Cobh native, whose parents come from Nigeria.
"It's tough, it's never easy," Zebo said of his countyman.
"I don't think it's the first time it's happened to him. I think he would have been exposed to it before, as you can imagine. Hopefully he's not taking it to heart.
"I definitely don't think Edwin's going on X and going through the comment section, do you know what I mean? I think it'll probably be more of a shock to the supporters or whatever. It's never nice to see because what should have been just a really happy, jovial celebration turned quite nasty.
"It was all focused around this young man who couldn't be prouder to represent his country and sing our anthem with pride. It's not a great look. Hopefully he will have a very, very long Irish career and do everybody incredibly proud, as he already has done."
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