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Mike Cron on why he joined the Wallabies and the 'big gap'
After several months of pursuit from Joe Schmidt, scrum guru Mike Cron was convinced to lend a helping hand to the Wallabies after decades of service to New Zealand Rugby.
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The legendary coach has over 200 Tests of experience with the All Blacks from 2004 to 2019 spanning four Rugby World Cups, with two title wins in 2011 and 2015. Linking up with Wayne Smith in 2022, Cron added another World Cup title with the Black Ferns.
Cron admitted he “never thought” he would coach Australia but in the age of professionalism it’s all about relationships.
After a long history of rubbing shoulders with Joe Schmidt from back at the Blues and Bay of Plenty, the pair have formed a strong friendship.
“I never thought it would happen, my dad would roll in his grave I think,” Cron told Newstalk ZB’s Sportstalk about his decision.
“But in the modern era we have a lot of close relationships in coaching and Joe rang and said I really need a hand, just til the end of the British & Irish Lions series next year. It’s a 16-month gig.
“At the moment we’ve got two ex-All Blacks coaches, one is in Scotland and one is in England, Joe over here, it’s just a sign of professional sport I think.”
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Aside from the desire to help out Schmidt personally, the “hell of a challenge” was a motivating factor to lift the Wallabies from 10th in the global standings much higher up the rung.
Cron and Schmidt hoped to be able to hand over the Wallabies after the Lions series in a better place and use their knowledge to improve local coaches.
“The goal really is to get them ready for the British & Lions tour. If there is talent unsighted, hopefully we can find it, and if there is talent there already, hopefully we can make them better.”
The Queensland Reds and ACT Brumbies have started strong this year in Super Rugby Pacific, bringing hope to Australian rugby after the 2023 Rugby World Cup campaign.
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The Waratahs knocked off the Crusaders early in the season but have since struggled to make clutch plays in winnable games, while the Melbourne Rebels are sitting 6th of the ladder.
Whilst it was a positive sign, Cron warned against using Super Rugby Pacific as a yardstick for how the Wallabies would perform against Wales and Georgia in July when they resume internationals.
“They seem to be a bit more competitive this year, the Super Rugby teams,” Cron said.
“What people have got to understand though, is the gap between international and Super Rugby is quite big now, now we don’t have South Africa and the Jaguares in the competition.
“The All Blacks showed that the last couple of years taking the first few Tests getting up to the speed of international rugby.
“A few years ago I think the gap was smaller. Whatever you see at Super, it’s a whole new ball-game at international hence why they needed some international coaches to come in and manoeuvre.
“Wayne Smith and I took on the Black Ferns, and I thought that was a hell of a challenge, it was, this one is even bigger.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Maybe if you come once in your life in France you won’t writte so much nonsense 🙃
1 Go to commentsWhy did they kill 14 people at a gaelic football match? What had happened earlier that day? Dowson sounds absolutely pathetic, believing what the Irish say about his people, rather than believing what his people say about the Irish.
1 Go to commentsI haven't really experienced the Irish as arrogant but I guess the players maybe got ahead of themselves after a big win. Just thought it being Ireland and their love afair with WC QF exits and it being the ABs maybe they would have taken it a bit more seriously. Maybe they did and just lost anyways, who knows.
3 Go to commentsNot surprising, they tend to get very carried away with themselves very quickly. I’ve never seen a team so devastated at the final whistle than those irish players in that QF, you’d think they had lost the final.
3 Go to commentsJust a roundabout way of claiming to great fun. Self -praise is no praise, frenchie.
1 Go to commentsIreland have played the ABs since the first game 1905 a total of 37 times. The ABs have won 32 and Ireland 5 times. If we look since the first WC, then they have played each other 28 times. All Ireland’s 5 wins have come since 2016. So the ABs won 23 games. Since Ireland won their first game in 2016, they have won 5 and the ABs 4 times. Fairly even. Whatever anyone says, beating ABs consistently is bloody difficult, and when you manage to win a few, show respect to them. Period.
180 Go to comments‘Mom'.
1 Go to commentsA specialist in hitting smaller guys hard and late. Serial cheap shot merchant who deserves more than the usual token sanction for such actions.
1 Go to commentsI like to see the Crusaders lose as much as the next non-Crusaders fan, but the fact that most of their best players have not been available this year is being hand waved away like it shouldn’t effect them. It’s no coincidence that their first dominant performance came when they had more of their best players back. This is not rocket science. If they can stay fit their team at the business end of the season will include Tamaiti Williams, Codie Taylor, Fletcher Newell, Scott Barrett, Quentin Strange, Ethan Blackadder and Cullen Grace in the forwards - most of whom have barely, or not played this year. That is an outstanding pack that have not played together this season. McLeod, Havili, Aumua, Reece, and Halfpenny will be a very different prospect behind their first choice pack as well. Having said all that Penney’s record is scratchy at best, but given the players that have left and their injury list I’m reserving judgement. Penney’s appointment, a bit like Foz, has a similar stench of the incumbent having too much say in his replacement. They are lacking a truly high quality and experienced 10 which will make it hard for them to go the whole way IMO, but the list of teams who would want to play them in the finals will be very short.
17 Go to commentsWhere’s this people's champion come from? Irish people yes….other people? Their arrogance has become breathtaking. Not tested? Oh dear.
180 Go to commentsIf a coach having Crusaders heritage is so sacrosanct, why did the Crusaders not pursue Vern Cotter as Scott Robertson’s replacement?
17 Go to commentsFinau is definitely operating on razor thin margins. He hasn’t done anything wrong… yet. But a player going into contact 6 inches lower than he is expecting, without him even knowing, will end in disaster. You can imagine a situation where the pass dies on Edmed and he has to bend down a little lower to catch it at the last second. Finau’s hit would have been catastrophic. The margins are just too fine. He needs to study how PSDT, at 6’7”, manages to drop his tackle height and exert just as much force with close zero danger of taking someone’s head off. Given how poorly NZ has adapted to lower their tackle height, and that this issue which has plagued the ABs for years and played a big part in them not winning the World Cup, I thought NZR and all SR coaches would be prioritising sorting this issue out. If I was Razor I would be on the phone to Clayton MacMillan and Samipeni Finau saying exactly that. Finau is a monster and shaping up to be the closest thing to Kaino since Kaino, but I wouldn’t risk selecting him for the ABs at the moment.
18 Go to commentsThe surprising stat I saw in the Blues game when showing Sotutu equaling the Blues forwards record was that Akira has not scored a try since 2019. Now my memory is pretty bad when it comes to those sorts of the things, I can remember his AB try though, but anyway I can’t see I can remember his last blues touchdown or any in recent years. Surely that still has to be a bogus stat. Maybe excludes SRA games?
3 Go to commentsDude to me looks pretty fast for a big man, nearly 2m and 130kg, in his workout vid he was signed off. Possibly a bit slow on his reads movement wise though, but I’ve not got anything to compare him to. Hope the dude nails it and finds his sport, could have been a devastating lock in rugby if he wasn’t a footballer growing up.
4 Go to commentsWell, does that make it every year Moana has lost it’s best player the following year? Normally it’s more immediate I guess, at least there best player had a follow up year this time.
1 Go to commentsFinally, an answer to Dan Carter.
1 Go to commentsNever read such tripe. He was hit just as he passed the ball which was reviewed and deemed legal by yes the Australian TMO and referee
18 Go to commentsTerrible idea…will be too hot, no one will travel, fan zones will be promised nice cold guinness and last minute will get water. Also how do you squeeze this into the already busy battle rhythm, Prem, summer series, 6 nations & world cup….if, and its a big IF you’re going to do this, do it in a rugby nation.
2 Go to commentsWell let’s hope world rugby doesn't read some of this nonsense, because next on the agenda will be…“players will only tackle other players deemed to be in their weight class, and only with moderate velocity”.
18 Go to commentsI was never allowed to adjust boots, or ever replaced, while I was playing and staying on the field. If I had issues, I had to go to the sideline and fix them myself. Then I would ask the ref to get back in. That would really make you deal with it FAST!
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