New Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt has announced his latest additions to his coaching team with highly rated forwards coach Mike Cron signing on alongside Chris Thomson as team manager.
Cron comes to the Wallabies with plenty of experience, coaching for over 30 years, including over 200 Tests with the All Blacks as assistant coach and four men's Rugby World Cups and a women's Rugby World Cup with the Black Ferns.
Cron has most recently worked as a consultant for World Rugby and worked across six continents to build the game.
Nicknamed the 'Scrum doctor', Cron will be expected to turn the Wallabies scrum into a weapon with Taniela Tupou, Angus Bell, James Slipper, Matt Faessler and David Porecki leading the pack.
His experience has seen him work with some of the world's best players and coaches including Steve Hansen, Richie McCaw and Sir Graham Henry, while he rekindled his coaching flame alongside Wayne Smith with the Black Ferns in 2022.
Uncle of current Western Force coach Simon Cron, Cron already has a connection with Australian rugby spending time with the Force earlier this year and will have kept a close eye on Australia's results in the Super Rugby Pacific competition so far this year.
"Mike has added tremendous value in every program he has been involved with and brings a wealth of knowledge to our coaching group," Schmit said of Cron's signing.
Meanwhile, Thomson joins the Wallabies from the Brumbies where he has worked as General Manager of Professional Rugby and Pathways since 2022.
Thomson has previously worked alongside Schmidt at World Rugby and has experience with the Fijian Drua as the General Manager.