He first started playing rugby for his school, Sacred Heart College, in Auckland, where he was in the 1st XV in 1977, and in 1979, he was selected for the 1979 North Island Under-18 team.
[1] After a New Zealand trial in 1982 and playing for the North Island, in 1983 Crowley came into the All Black side for their 1983 British Isles tour.
He was a late call up to the side, having replaced Allan Hewson who injured himself in training prior to the team's departure.
[1] In 1987, he was part of the 1987 World Cup winning side, included in the squad as a backup for fullback John Gallagher, and again he featured in the side for the 1991 World Cup, not as an original choice, but was called up after injury to Terry Wright, and played the semi-final against Australia, losing 16–6 in Dublin.
In 2007, he coached the New Zealand Under 19s at the World Championships in Ireland, where they went undefeated, beating South Africa in the final 31–7, winning the competition for the first time since 2004.
In March 2008, Rugby Canada announced that Crowley would be replacing Ric Suggitt as head coach of the Canadian national team.
However, they were unable to stay in touch with the Six Nations Champions, with Warren Gatlands side running away with the match to win 34–13.
On 11 July 2009, Crowley guided Canada to qualification for the 2011 Rugby World Cup, beating the United States with an aggregate score of 47–30.
They finished fourth in their pool, which meant not only would they not make the knock-out stages, but Canada would have to go through the qualification process to qualify for the 2015 Rugby World Cup.
In November 2012, Canada participated in the 2012 International Rugby Series in North Wales, where they faced Samoa, losing 42–12, and Russia winning 35–3.
In 2013, Canada and the United States joined the World Rugby Pacific Nations Cup, which included the likes of Fiji, Samoa, Tonga and Japan.
The physical encounter at BMO Field was believed to have taken a lot of energy out of the player, and impacted the team greatly heading into the PNC decider against Japan on 19 June.
On 17 and 24 August, Crowley guided Canada to a 40–20 aggregate score over the United States to qualify for the 2015 Rugby World Cup.
During their European tour, Crowley managed 1 win, narrowly beating Tier 3 side Namibia 17–13, but losing to Samoa 23–13 and Romania 18–9.
In August 2015, Crowley led Canada to last place in the 2015 World Rugby Pacific Nations Cup losing all four matches; 20–6 against Japan, 28–18 to Tonga and 21–20 to Samoa.
During the 2015 Rugby World Cup, Canada failed to win a single match, despite picking up 2 bonus points.
On 22 December, Crowley accepted the extension which will see him coach Canada through to their 2019 Rugby World Cup qualification matches in August 2017.
His coaching had been widely praised for the marked improvements of Italy's discipline and offensive capabilities, and for his selection into the team of a new generation of promising young players.