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

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. 

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.

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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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