MOXIE IS A word new Ireland women’s rugby head coach Greg McWilliams uses quite a lot.
None more so than when he is talking about Nicole Cronin.
The Munster and UL Bohemians star starts at 10 in tomorrow’s Six Nations opener against Wales at the RDS [KO 4.45pm, live on Virgin Media One], with Stacey Flood moving to 12.
Out-half is a position that has seen no shortage of chopping and changing over the past few years, and Cronin is now given a golden chance to make it her own, having done so at club level.
Big international opportunities have been few and far between for the 29-year-old Limerick native in recent times, but she returns to the green jersey to win her 17th Test cap alongside debutante Aoibheann Reilly in the half-backs.
Small in stature at 5ft and 53kg, Cronin is a joy to watch with an outrageous skill-set.
She was a bolter in the 2017 World Cup squad, with Fiona Coghlan recalling her first encounter with Cronin as a youngster in conversation with The42 beforehand.
“She was just so far ahead of anyone else that was there,” the former Ireland captain reflected on a coaching session she oversaw. “She had the little cheeky chappy attitude of a scrum-half, but she had the skills as well to back it up as a 12-year-old. At that age grade, she was far beyond.”
While things have changed since the even, Ireland head coach Greg McWilliams remembers a similar moment down the line.
“In 2013, I saw Nicole Cronin,” he explained yesterday. “She was younger at the time and I just loved her as a footballer. I kept tabs on her.
“As soon as I became international coach, I said, ‘Somebody who can play to the gainline, someone who has moxie, who is like Carlos Spencer — who can play, that’s what I want and what people want to see.’
“To have Stacey [Flood] outside means you can put somebody in No 10 who is playing No 10 regularly, who understands momentum; slow momentum, fast momentum, a bit of game-management. Then, to have a footballer like Stacey outside her, I’m hoping they can develop a really good partnership, where the two of them are buzzing off each other.
“Hopefully it means now that we’ll have a bit of variation in terms of how we can use the ball in the middle and then with a bit of speed out wide we can get the ball there.”
Affectionately known as “Spud” and a cousin of Sean and Neil, Cronin is part of Ireland’s new leadership group, headed up by captain Nichola Fryday.
Also talented soccer player and product of the Sevens programme, she has a colourful past and all of that experience makes her the rugby star — and person — she is today.
Delving deeper into her own personal attributes, McWilliams echoed his previous sentiments before offering further unique insight.
“I think what you want from your out-half is somebody who can play ball, to be a bit moxie. Like, have the ability to talk to people around you, to look at space to play the game like to stay square, to be able to play deep to be able to kick.
“Nicole is very athletic, she won a scholarship to the US as she is a terrific soccer player. So she’s just somebody who’s an all-round player who can go out and just play on the line. And we need that in the modern game.
“We have to be able sit defenders down. We need to be able to move move our attack, rather than just keeping it to one point and she moves the attack well. Also, for somebody who’s not that big, she’s pretty hard, she gets around the place she’s not afraid to put it about.
“So she’s got a great heart and soul and she’s just a naturally-gifted footballer. I just think that she’s somebody who I’ve been waiting to coach for a couple of years and to just have the opportunity to work with her has been eye opening – she’s very talented.”
McWilliams confirmed that Cronin will, as expected, start as place-kicker against Wales tomorrow, but he’ll leave those calls in the hands of the players.
“It’s up to her to explore what’s best for the team and she knows where our DNA is, she knows where our pulse is, how we’re trying to get our heart going and how we’re trying to get the blood flowing on our connections in attack on in defence.”
“The girls need to realise that we’re our own team,” he added. “We’ve got to come up with a way of playing that suits us, our DNA and what we’re trying to go for. And that’s why this weekend is going to be really important and you know we’re gonna learn a lot from it.
“All I want to see is them going out there and bring that energy because if they do, I’ll be so proud of them and I will learn a lot they’ll be able to take a really good step forward.”
