Born in Cork, Cronin played his junior rugby with Ballincollig RFC and Highfield RFC before joining the Munster academy.
He played his first game for Munster A against Connacht Eagles in a pre-season game in August 2012 and went on to make his B&I Cup debut against Rotherham Titans in December.
In his first season, he was named Academy Player of the Year and, in his second year, represented Munster ‘A’ and made his senior debut for the Irish province.
He was promoted to a development contract with the senior Munster squad for the 2013/14 season. He made his senior debut in the PRO12 game against Leinster in Thomond Park in 2013 and won the John McCarthy Award for Munster Academy Player of the Year for the 2012/13 season.
After just one season of senior rugby, Cronin was selected as part of the Irish senior squad to tour Argentina and made his Test debut in the win over Los Pumas in June 2014. He impressed enough over the following months to be named in the Irish 6 Nations Squad for the 2015 Tournament.
He was then named in the Emerging Ireland squad for the 2015 World Rugby Tbilisi Cup on 19 May 2015. Impressive form saw the loosehead included in the Ireland squad for the 2016 RBS 6 Nations where he featured off the bench against France.
Cronin made his 100th appearance against Ulster in April 2018 and a few months later he signed a two-year contract extension with Munster until June 2021. In May 2021, Cronin announced that he would not renew his contract at Munster and would leave the province following 142 appearances in red and scored 20 tries since making his debut against Leinster in April 2013.
He signed for French club Biarritz following their promotion to the Top 14. After just one season with Biarritz, he left the Club to sign for Leicester Tigers.
In Cronin's 2022/2023 season for Leicester Tigers he made 16 appearances and scored a total of 4 tries.
S.C June 2023
Career
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Dolphin RFC Loosehead Prop |
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Ballincollig RFC Loosehead Prop |
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Leicester Tigers Loosehead Prop |
2022 - present |
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Ireland Loosehead Prop |
2014 - 2017 |
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Barbarians Loosehead Prop |
2017 - 2017 |
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Munster Rugby Loosehead Prop |
2013 - 2021 |
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Biarritz Olympique Loosehead Prop |
2021 - 2022 |
