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28th January 2012 07:00
Former New Zealand scrum coach Mike Cron has accepted a role as forwards coach in the All Blacks' new team headed by Steve Hansen.
Cron, who retired after last year's World Cup after working with the team as a specialist coach since 2004, said he had accepted Hansen's offer.
He will work alongside head coach Hansen and his assistants Ian Foster, the backs coach, and Aussie McLean, the defence coach.
| Fixture | Details |
|---|---|
| All times are local | |
| Aviva Premiership | |
| Saturday , May 26 | |
| Harlequins vs Leicester | 15:00 |
| More Aviva Premiership fixtures | |
| RaboDirect PRO12 | |
| Sunday , May 27 | |
| Leinster vs Ospreys | 16:00 |
| More RaboDirect PRO12 fixtures | |
| International Match | |
| Sunday , May 27 | |
| England vs Barbarians | 14:30 |
| More International Match fixtures | |
| Top 14 | |
| Friday , May 25 | |
| Castres vs Montpellier | 20:45 |
| Saturday , May 26 | |
| Toulon vs Racing Metro Paris | 21:00 |
| More Top 14 fixtures | |
| Super Rugby | |
| Friday , May 25 | |
| Chiefs vs Bulls | 19:35 |
| Saturday , May 26 | |
| Hurricanes vs Melbourne Rebels | 17:30 |
| Blues vs Highlanders | 19:35 |
| Brumbies vs Reds | 19:40 |
| Western Force vs Lions | 19:40 |
| Cheetahs vs Waratahs | 17:05 |
| Sharks vs Stormers | 19:10 |
| More Super Rugby fixtures | |
| Fixture | Details |
|---|---|
| All times are local | |
| Super Rugby | |
| Sunday , May 20 | |
| Western Force 31 - 32 Melbourne Rebels |  |
| More Super Rugby results | |
| Heineken Cup | |
| Saturday , May 19 | |
| Leinster 42 - 14 Ulster | |
| More Heineken Cup results | |
| Super Rugby | |
| Highlanders 16 - 11 Bulls | |
| Crusaders 59 - 12 Blues | |
| Reds 34 - 20 Lions | |
| Stormers 19 - 13 Waratahs | |
| Cheetahs 20 - 34 Sharks | |
| More Super Rugby results | |
| Amlin Challenge Cup | |
| Friday , May 18 | |
| Toulon 18 - 21 Biarritz | |
| More Amlin Challenge Cup results | |
| Super Rugby | |
| Hurricanes 25 - 37 Brumbies | |
| Sunday , May 13 | |
| Reds 42 - 27 Chiefs | |
| More Super Rugby results | |
| Aviva Premiership | |
| Saturday , May 12 | |
| Harlequins 25 - 23 Northampton | |
| Leicester 24 - 15 Saracens | |
| More Aviva Premiership results | |
| RaboDirect PRO12 | |
| Leinster 19 - 15 Glasgow | |
| More RaboDirect PRO12 results | |
| Top 14 | |
| Clermont Auvergne 57 - 14 Brive | |
| Biarritz 16 - 5 Stade Francais | |
| Agen 25 - 22 Racing Metro Paris | |
| Bordeaux-Begles 37 - 29 Perpignan | |
| Castres 31 - 29 Bayonne | |
| Lyon 5 - 29 Toulon | |
| Toulouse 20 - 13 Montpellier | |
| More Top 14 results | |
| Super Rugby | |
| Highlanders 20 - 26 Hurricanes | |
| Stormers 16 - 14 Cheetahs | |
| Sharks 53 - 11 Western Force | |
| Melbourne Rebels 28 - 19 Crusaders | |
| More Super Rugby results | |
| RaboDirect PRO12 | |
| Friday , May 11 | |
| Ospreys 45 - 10 Munster | |
| More RaboDirect PRO12 results | |
| Pos | Team | P | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wales | 5 | 10 |
| 2 | England | 5 | 8 |
| 3 | Ireland | 5 | 5 |
| 4 | France | 5 | 5 |
| 5 | Italy | 5 | 2 |
| 6 | Scotland | 5 | 0 |
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Comments
sukkadoits says...
@markpat I agree with you that the NZ pack is not the greatest in the world at set piece, the teams you cite are often superior, Italy only one 1 or 2 occasions though. France atm definitely so.
What the NZ pack is the best at is the looser stuff- ball handling, ball running, support play, transition play, field mobility. it is these characteristics that set them apart.
Posted 03:15 22nd February 2012
markpat says...
Much as ahate the French team, I'd rate the French pack above NZ's. I'd also be very tempted to put Italy's, maybe Argentina's.
Italy and Argentina are dominant in the scrum, have a formidable rolling maul, very efficient lineouts and are very good at both securing and turning over possession.
New Zealand win games with much lower percentages of possession, thereby suggesting, in intself, that their pack is not dominating games.
Posted 09:28 02nd February 2012
KiwiLad says...
Markpat, interesting question, who would you put above them?
Posted 06:02 02nd February 2012
markpat says...
No offence to New Zealand, who are justifiably accepted as the world's premier team, but since when were they the world's premier pack?
Posted 14:18 31st January 2012
brands says...
unstoppable!
Posted 21:46 28th January 2012
TotalRugbyRules says...
Cron=forwards coach(great scrummaging creds); Foster=backs coach with dubious credentials; McClean=great defensive coach ... great thing about all this is Hansen doesn't have to do much of what we know he does poorly ... viz. coach.
Posted 10:46 28th January 2012