Leicester Tigers will welcome James Cronin to the club ahead of the 2022/23 season.

The loosehead prop moves to Leicester from French club Biarritz Olympique.

Born in Cork, Cronin played his junior rugby with Ballincollig RFC and Highfield RFC before joining the Munster academy.

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.

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.

Cronin made more than 140 appearances for Munster in Pro12, Pro14 and European Champions Cup competitions before moving to France to join Biarritz ahead of the current campaign.

Speaking about the addition of Cronin, Leicester Tigers Head Coach Steve Borthwick said: “James is a physical, determined player who has shown his ability in some of the toughest rugby environments in the game.

“He has experience at domestic and international level, which will add to the leadership within our group as well as being of great benefit to the development of the younger players in our front-row ranks.

“We are delighted that James will be joining Leicester Tigers next season.”

Discussing the move to Tigers, Cronin said: “You can see that Leicester Tigers is a club on the up, led by a world-class coach in Steve Borthwick, and I want to push myself in an environment like that which he has created.

“To be a part of what is being built at the club is a massive driver for me.

“I see myself as a hard-working, confrontational player and, in the chats I have had with Steve, he wants to see those traits from me.

“I hope that with my performances I can earn the respect of the Leicester Tigers fans.”