Hard work paying off for Munster stalwart James Cronin

When James Cronin returned from Argentina in the summer of 2014 he spoke about the “dream come true” of his senior Irish debut and the honour of being the first Ballincollig RFC player to reach such heights.

He featured for no more than six minutes that day in Tucumán but the hope then was that it would be “just a start”. The goal was to kick on, gather more caps and avoid the second season syndrome he had heard all about.

His rise to that point had been rapid. That first Test came less than two years after Munster awarded him a development contract but progress with club and country has been less serene since and just a dozen minutes off the bench against Italy a year ago have been added to his international stock.