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Sean Cronin's World Cup looks over as Ireland reportedly fly in replacement hooker

Sean Cronin is set to miss the remainder of Ireland's World Cup through injury (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

Sean Cronin’s World Cup appears to be over as Ireland are believed to be flying Rob Herring in for the remainder of the finals in Japan. 

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Cronin came off the bench in two of Ireland’s four pool matches – the defeat to hosts Japan and the scratchy win over Russia.

However, he was left sitting in the stands behind starter Rory Best and replacement Niall Scannell for last Saturday’s match versus Samoa and is now unavailable for selection for this Saturday’s quarter-final versus New Zealand. 

It has been reported that Cronin suffered a campaign-ending injury during training this week in the build-up to face the defending champions and it’s believed Herring will join the Ireland squad on Thursday. 

The South African-born hooker, who qualifies for Ireland through his grandfather, was considered unlucky not to have made Joe Schmidt’s initial 31-man squad for the final.

(Continue reading below…)

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Last capped in the August warm-up win over Italy, Herring’s arrival will see him become the second in-tournament call-up by Schmidt.

Jack Conan left the finals after just one appearance, paving the way Jordi Murphy, Herring’s colleague at Ulster, to join up with the Irish squad in time to start their match versus the Russians in Kobe.  

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WATCH: The RugbyPass guide to Tokyo ahead of this weekend’s quarter-finals

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TI 4 hours ago
All Blacks player ratings vs Italy | Autumn Nations Series

Rieko took literally years to turn from a defensive liability at 13 into a guy, who’s defensively sound as it befits the position. And it all came at the cost of him being much less of an offensive threat, than what he used to be. Proctor is a natural 13, he handles, passes, and kicks way better than Rieko ever will, he just isn’t as fast.


It’s unfair to judge Tupaea on the handful of games he’s had in 2022 before he got nearly crippled by a Wallaby lock. What could Tupaea/Proctor pairing be, if they got the same amount of chances as Jordie/Rieko?


Because no matter how you spin it, playing a player outside of his natural position is a poor asset management. No matter how talented he is, he still competes against players who had years and years of practice at the position. And if said guy is so talented that he actually CAN compete against specialists, imagine how much better still he could have been, if he had all those years to iron the toothing issues at the position. It just drives me mad.


Two things I hate in rugby union beyond description: aping after league, and playing players outside of their natural position. Especially considering, that they all admit they hate it, when they’re allowed to speak freely. Owen Farrell spent 80% of his international career at 12, saying every time when asked, that he is a 10 and prefers to play at 10. Those players are literally held at a gunpoint: play out of position, or no national jersey for you.

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