Cronin keen to follow in ‘Killer’s’ footsteps

James Cronin may well have been more aggrieved than many within Munster when he heard Dave Kilcoyne had not been named by Joe Schmidt in Ireland’s squad for the autumn internationals.

It says much for Kilcoyne’s progress through the ranks from AIL duty with UL Bohemian to Munster and then into an Ireland jersey within a short space of time last season, that his omission from the Guinness Series squad named last week was the major talking point for rugby pundits.

For fellow loosehead prop Cronin, earning similarly rave reviews this season to Kilcoyne’s plaudits of 12 months ago, that rapid rise is a boost to a young player looking to follow the same career path.

For Munster head coach Rob Penney, having two quality looseheads available through the November Test window is a positive bonus but Schmidt’s decision had a knock-on effect and Cronin is now vying with Kilcoyne for a starting spot against Ospreys at Thomond Park on Saturday.

Penney reassured Cronin, 22, last week that he would “continue to get the access” to first-team rugby and made good on his promise by starting the Dolphin man ahead of Kilcoyne in Friday’s RaboDirect Pro12 clash with Glasgow at Scotstoun. A hard-earned victory was tempered by both looseheads making trips to the sin bin at the behest of referee Ian Davies, Kilcoyne for a scrummaging issue, Cronin at the breakdown, and the Corkman knows he has to live up to the standards he has set himself.

“I had a few good games at the start of the season and I’m happy with the way it’s gone so far,” he said. “I’ve been involved in every game so far and it’s gone brilliantly, I couldn’t ask for anything better. So I’m really enjoying it and hoping to keep my form going. Pre-season I just wanted to push myself up the pecking order as hard as I could. I knew Killer (Kilcoyne) would have been away (under) the IRFU (player welfare) protocols and there was an opportunity there to play the friendly games and take one game at a time and try and do my best and thankfully it’s working for me.”

After a season with Dolphin and Munster A duty in the British & Irish Cup was rewarded with a brief competitive debut in last April’s Thomond Park clash with Leinster, Cronin ended the year as Academy Player of the Year for 2012-13. He got his chance again in pre-season against Gloucester and London Irish and then scored a try on the opening day of the league season against Edinburgh at Musgrave Park, his Rabo form earning him a Heineken Cup debut in the round one trip to Murrayfield.

“Those (games) put me forward and I had to back up those performances then, you know, prove it wasn’t a fluke. I’d been knocking around the squad for a while and played, I think, for two minutes against Leinster last year and then came on in Zebre for 20 minutes. Obviously they rated me some bit because they had me knocking around.”

So impressive was his “knocking around” that when Marcus Horan retired and Wian du Preez returned to South Africa at the end of the season, the Munster management placed their faith in the homegrown academy graduate rather than bringing in a more seasoned pro from elsewhere.

“Rob and the lads didn’t bring anybody in and they obviously saw me coming through so that gives me loads of confidence. In fairness, Rob’s always been good to me. I like playing with ball in hand and he tells me ‘play what’s in front of you’. He’s a great coach to instil confidence in young fellas. So that’s been a positive.”

So too has been watching Kilcoyne’s quick promotion from the As to Heineken Cup rugby and then to earning nine Test caps to date.

“It’s massive, to see the way how fast his career is progressing and he’s an international now with I don’t know how many caps. Obviously that’s the goal for any young player so hopefully I’ll do the same thing and go on and play for Ireland. It’s really exciting to see him do it and hopefully I can follow suit.”

Like Kilcoyne, Cronin is as comfortable in the loose as he is in the heat of the scrum.

“I love ball in hand but I don’t mind the gritty stuff either. I’ll get involved but if you can carry the ball I think you should. I’ve no issue hanging around with the backs and throwing the ball around. They’re good skill sets to have and the coaches can see that as well.”

He does, though, admit to being a bit of a scrummaging nerd and Cronin enjoys working with Penney the scrum coach.

“It’s all about the scrum. That’s your job first and foremost. So you have your analysis done, you have to be a geek. I had a little kink with my back and Rob called me on it and told me ‘look, we’ll sort it out’. That was early in pre-season and thankfully now, I’ve been scrummaging well and happy out, the way it’s going. I can’t see into the future but hopefully if I keep my form I’ll get selected and I’ll take one game at a time, concentrate on that and crack on with it. There will be opportunities, not just for me but for the lads coming behind me and we’ll just have to take it with both hands.

“You only get a few opportunities in these kind of environments and you just have to take it.”