Hamstring injury rules Sean Cronin out of Six Nations 2017

Ireland will be without the services of Sean Cronin in the upcoming 2017 Six Nations tournament after the hooker sustained a hamstring injury.

The 30-year-old suffered the blow while playing for his club Leinster during the Pro 12 encounter against Zebre on 6th January and is expected to be out of action for 10 weeks.

Leinster head coach Stuart Lancaster confirmed the news on rbs6nations.com.

"It's quite a significant hamstring injury.

"It's a real shame for him as he's actually playing great rugby but it's a good opportunity for us to get him right and make sure we don't get a recurrence of this because it must be hugely frustrating for him.

"He's got himself into great form and now he'll miss the RBS 6 Nations. He went to push-off and accelerate around the corner and saw it go. He's deeply disappointed but he'll be back a better player."

Having made his Ireland debut in 2009, Cronin has made 56 appearances for his country and has scored four tries in it.

Ireland will kick start their Six Nations 2017 campaign against Scotland on 4th February at Murrayfield.