MOTORING RIGHT INTO IRELAND GRIDLOCK
‘Cronin can no longer be certain of his bench place’
ON THE website of his management company, Sean Cronin is credited with 108 Ireland The hooker has in fact played in 56 Tests for his country, but within that figure is contained information more arresting than any inaccurate claim for Cronin as a rugby centurion.
Of his 56 caps, just nine have come as a starter. And while 25 of his appearances for Ireland have come in the Six Nations, he has never started a match in the tournament.
The numbers speak to Cronin’s consistency in representing his country since his debut against Fiji in November 2009 — the same evening Johnny Sexton made his Test debut.
But they also indicate the quality of player that he has competed with over the past nine seasons. He was third-choice as Jerry Flannery and Rory Best tussled for the No.2 shirt under Declan Kidney, and following the retirement of the former, the latter established himself with such success that he is currently Joe Schmidt’s captain.
Injuries and the timing of them have not facilitated Cronin making a sustained or plausible chalNovember lenge on Best’s status, either. A serious hamstring injury kept him out of the Six Nations last year, meaning that when Best was injured and missed the match against Italy in Rome, it was Niall Scannell that started and played brilliantly.
And when Schmidt caused surprise in not picking Cronin for the November internationals, Rob Herring at Ulster benefitted as he deputised for Best against South Africa and started against Fiji. Worse again for Cronin, given the keenness of competition in Leinster’s well-resourced squad, James Tracy was on the bench against the Fijians and then for the match against Argentina.
Cronin’s case illustrates the unprecedented strength Schmidt has developed in Irish rugby. Even allowing for what he has achieved in winning trophies at Leinster and Ireland, the options he has created for Test selection over the past two years is arguably the greatest service Schmidt has done to the game in this country.
That will be conclusively determined in the autumn of next year when Ireland travel to Japan for the World Cup, but the critical job of deepening a coach’s selection choices inevitably unsettles previously established players.
Cronin’s case is one example, with the player addressing his difficulties ahead of the win against Connacht on New Year’s Day.
‘I haven’t spoken to Joe since November,’ he said. ‘At the time, it was just that he thought I didn’t hit the ground running at the start of the season, which was probably fair enough.
‘I felt that I was coming back after basically nine months injured after I did my hamstring and had my neck problem. I probably wasn’t given much wiggle-room.’
There simply isn’t much now. With the exception of Sexton, Conor Murray and Tadhg Furlong, no player can be certain of a starting place in Schmidt’s XV.
A preliminary squad for the Six Nations will be announced within a fortnight, and Cronin did much to present his case for inclusion with his performance against his old team on Monday.
He was excellent against Connacht, rewarded with man of the match and featured a run past Bundee Aki on the left wing that required the celebrated centre to scramble and haul him down.
That burst highlighted one of Cronin’s great assets, his speed. It is also a strength that has perhaps worked against him: coaches know that a front-row player possessing the acceleration the hooker does is a valuable asset in the final quarter of a game, bringing speed more commonly associated with back-line players as a bonus, along with their regular duties.
Therefore Cronin is attractive as a reserve, his impact as a replacement now almost a cliché.
He returned from his hamstring injury last season against the Ospreys in the Pro12 league, and his performance that day caused Ronan O’Gara to take to social media and declare: ‘That’s why he will be the impact sub in each Test vs NZ’ he said, referring to the Lions tour.
That was always an improbable prospect, but after failing to make the initial squad, Cronin’s chances of featuring as a late call-up ended when he injured his neck against Clermont in the European Cup.
As a consequence he did not tour with Ireland to the United States or Japan, either. It is now almost 14 months since he last played under Schmidt, as a substitute in the November 2016 win against Australia.
However, it is to his advantage that Schmidt knows him well owing to an association that started at Leinster over six years ago.
The reliability of his line-out throwing has been a consistent criticism of Cronin, but given his experience and that ability to tear up tired defences as a ball-carrier in the final quarter, his attractiveness to Schmidt — and Leo Cullen — is obvious.
Best will captain the team in the looming championship, but Cronin can no longer be certain he will be No16, despite his proven talents. Scannell started his first match in 10 weeks in Munster’s loss to Ulster, while Herring and Tracy are players that Schmidt likes, too.
That surge past Bundee Aki advertised a deadly part of Cronin’s game. He is motoring again — but there are other engines ready to roar.