[quote=āMac, post: 896090, member: 109ā]Because he was a ārevelationā at Connacht at a time where āposter boyā Jerry Flannery was retiring and Munster and Leinster ābattled it outā for his signature as a hooker. Anyway, Cronin canāt handle the ball well enough for a back row.
I think Brent Pope said a few years ago that if Sean OāBrien was born in NZ heād have been trained up as a front row and therein lies the problem with Irish rugby as front rows arenāt trained properly in Ireland.[/quote]
Heās never gonna be a top international hooker I reckon, but heās about 4 foot nothin, built like a tank and has massive pace -pretty natural 7 Iād have thought. By the way Iām pretty sure Strauss was a hooker when he came here, I think I remember an interview with him where he was saying he was never gonna be big enough to be a Springbok hooker and that influenced his decision to come here.
I think he alternated between both positions in South Africa but Leinster saw him as a flanker when he arrived. Whether it was down to Ollie Le Roux or something else he ended up as a hooker and its possibly the most accidental signing theyāve made. I could be wrong but I think their hand may have been forced when John Fogarty was forced to retire and they had only one other hooker on their books at the time. I could be getting that completely arsedways though.
[quote=ācaoimhaoin, post: 896120, member: 273ā]I vaguely remember Cronin catching Cronan Healy in an AIL final. That was embarrassing for Healy, but inductive if Cronins pace.
How many of that Leinster 5 front rows are from Leinster?[/quote]
Moore, McGrath, Healy are I think. Cronin and Ross are from Munster arenāt they?
TBH think you might have dreamed that Mac. Never heard of Strauss playing back row, might have slotted in off bench for 5 mins in injury crisis but 90% certain he was always a hooker! with Leinster at least.
Cronin still only 27 relatively young for a front row. Heās improved loads this season through being the No1 in Strauss absence and getting consistent run of games. Unsurprisingly that helps a lot in such a technical position. He is a fine player with great pace and ball skills for a hooker. Throwing has left him down at times. But in general he is more likely to have one game with 10% success following three 100% gamesā¦likes of Varley is just 70% average. That would suggest to me nothing really wrong with Cronins throwing just mental issue when things start going wrong.
In relation to the converting to front row. Doesnāt work all that often. Tom Youngs is interesting example. Played on wing for Eng 20s against ireland 4/5 years ago and lions tour as hooker last summer. Phenomenal. Scrum rules changed for new season though and back to school because he had never āhookedā the ball previously and he hadnāt a clue what he was doing. Likes of Best has never played anywhere else so he knew what to do!
The point about producing props is a good one. Huge focus gone into this in the last ten years Iād say. All those lads youv mentioned, kilcoyne, archer and Cronin in Munster as well. Also few below that level like Furlong in Leinster who could be top class. No shortage of strong aggressive lads in this country. Was ripe for picking.
At the junior World Cup last year Ire absolutely milled the NZ scrum repeatedly. Coaching gone down through the levels. Iād bet in five years time it will be one of they key strengths of Irish rugby
[quote=ādancarter, post: 896129, member: 122ā]Yes Ross is from cork and Cronin from LK.
The point about producing props is a good one. Huge focus gone into this in the last ten years Iād say. All those lads youv mentioned, kilcoyne, archer and Cronin in Munster as well. Also few below that level like Furlong in Leinster who could be top class. No shortage of strong aggressive lads in this country. Was ripe for picking.
At the junior World Cup last year Ire absolutely milled the NZ scrum repeatedly. Coaching gone down through the levels. Iād bet in five years time it will be one of they key strengths of Irish rugby[/quote]
Never underestimate the importance of fat lads being able to push other fat lads out of the way
[quote=ādancarter, post: 896128, member: 122ā]TBH think you might have dreamed that Mac. Never heard of Strauss playing back row, might have slotted in off bench for 5 mins in injury crisis but 90% certain he was always a hooker! with Leinster at least.
[/quote]
I definitely remember him playing a couple of games at flanker - whether that was down to injury or something else I donāt know. This is over 5 years ago though.
[quote=ādancarter, post: 896128, member: 122ā]TBH think you might have dreamed that Mac. Never heard of Strauss playing back row, might have slotted in off bench for 5 mins in injury crisis but 90% certain he was always a hooker! with Leinster at least.
Cronin still only 27 relatively young for a front row. Heās improved loads this season through being the No1 in Strauss absence and getting consistent run of games. Unsurprisingly that helps a lot in such a technical position. He is a fine player with great pace and ball skills for a hooker. Throwing has left him down at times. But in general he is more likely to have one game with 10% success following three 100% gamesā¦likes of Varley is just 70% average. That would suggest to me nothing really wrong with Cronins throwing just mental issue when things start going wrong.
In relation to the converting to front row. Doesnāt work all that often. Tom Youngs is interesting example. Played on wing for Eng 20s against ireland 4/5 years ago and lions tour as hooker last summer. Phenomenal. Scrum rules changed for new season though and back to school because he had never āhookedā the ball previously and he hadnāt a clue what he was doing. Likes of Best has never played anywhere else so he knew what to do![/quote]
Dan has pretty much made shite of the boys criticisms of European Rugby Player of the Year 2013 nominee Sean Cronin. Fantastic to see him get a run in the Leinster team to show what he can do.
Good riddance to than Saffer cunt. Ireland for the Irish.
[quote=āmyboyblue, post: 896143, member: 180ā]Dan has pretty much made shite of the boys criticisms of European Rugby Player of the Year 2013 nominee Sean Cronin. Fantastic to see him get a run in the Leinster team to show what he can do.
Good riddance to than Saffer cunt. Ireland for the Irish.[/quote]
Never saw it myself, never achieved much outside the Premiership, while that may have been down to injury he always flattered to deceive even in the Heineken Cup. Nothing special.
