SEAN CRONIN, the former Ireland hooker has announced today that he will be hanging up his boots at the end of the season.
Cronin turned 36 in May and had a very successful career for Ireland, Munster, Connacht and Leinster.
He won 72 caps for his country and won three Six Nations titles with Ireland in 2014, 2015 and 2018.
His last cap for Ireland came against Russia at the 2019 Rugby World Cup.
He started off at Munster, switched to Connacht, before earning a move to Leinster in 2011.
Known as 'Nugget' by his rugby peers, Cronin played 204 times for the province, and won two Heineken Champions Cup medals, a Challenge Cup medal and six PRO12/14 titles.
📢 | #LeinsterRugby hooker @SeanCronin2 has announced that he will retire at the end of the current season. 🙌
He will now take over as head coach of @StMarysRFC. 👏
More | https://t.co/pMzNrTS8xa#ThankYouNugget #FromTheGroundUp pic.twitter.com/AkEtGGJC9I— Leinster Rugby (@leinsterrugby) April 20, 2022
In a statement released today by the player, he thanked Leinster, his family and everyone involved in his journey.
"It has been a unique journey for me starting off in Limerick many years ago, traveling to Galway to set my sights on playing professionally and finishing in Dublin where it's been an incredible 11 years of so many great days in blue and green," Cronin said.
"I’ve been blessed to experience so many of those great days in my career.
"Like any profession you mix the highs with the lows, but it’s how I turned those low points around which is something I look back on with great pride and appreciation.
"I feel incredibly lucky to have had the opportunity to do something I love for a living and this would not have been possible without the support of so many people along the way who believed in my potential and gave me the opportunity to succeed in the game.
"The professional side of my career was a different journey than most but for me, one I look back on with huge pride as I experienced some amazing clubs filled with great coaches, teammates, and players across all three teams.
"I'm extremely grateful to Michael Bradley who gave me my first professional contract in Connacht where I had three great years developing as a young professional rugby player.
"Leinster has been my home, and my family’s home, for over 10 years. I have enjoyed every minute of the journey and I have had some amazing days in Leinster blue.
"Twickenham in 2012, Bilbao and the Aviva in 2018 and countless memories in the RDS Arena that are too many to mention.
"However, one that stands out quite clearly at the RDS is the occasion of my 200th cap in February of this year. The reception I got from supporters and from my teammates and then to have my wife, Claire, and my kids, Cillian, Finn and Saoirse, there with me, made for a very special day."
Cronin will become head coach of St Mary's RFC next season, having worked with the Energia All-Ireland League Division 1B side this season.
Fukuoka , Japan - 11 October 2019; Sean Cronin with students during a visit by the Ireland rugby squad to Kasuga Elementary School in Kusaga, Fukuoka, Japan. (Photo By Brendan Moran/Sportsfile via Getty Images)