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‘Take us to that next level’: Coach Simon Cron re-signs with Western Force

Coach Simon Cron of the Force looks on ahead of the round four Super Rugby Pacific match between Highlanders and Western Force at Invercargill Rugby Park, on March 19, 2023, in Invercargill, New Zealand. (Photo by Joe Allison/Getty Images)

The Western Force believe they are heading in the right direction under Simon Cron with the club announcing on Tuesday that the head coach has signed a two-year contract extension through until the 2026 Super Rugby Pacific season.

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Less than two weeks out from the 2024 season opener at home against the Hurricanes, the Force have revealed that their well-respected coach will stay out west for the foreseeable future.

Cron, 48, joined the Force on an initial two-year deal in 2022 but has gone on to impress with his leadership qualities, rugby knowledge and commitment to the Super Rugby franchise.

Western Force CEO Niamh O’Connor, who was officially confirmed to be permanently in that position last week, was delighted to see Cron re-sign.

“Since his arrival in Perth 18 months ago, Simon and his coaching team have worked hard to put the foundation pieces in place for long-term success for the Force,” O’Connor said in a statement.

“That doesn’t happen overnight but the trajectory of the team under Simon is exciting and while we didn’t make the finals last year, we saw glimpses of the project building and evolving. That’s only been enhanced during the off-season by our recruitment and player buy-in.

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“You can feel internally that there’s an elite high-performance environment and positive success-focused culture growing within the playing squad which is exactly part of the Club’s vision to be world-class.

“The Force board have every confidence in Simon to take us to that next level, thus we’re thrilled to have him sign a contract extension, keeping him in Perth until at least 2026.”

Cron has an impressive rugby coaching CV which would make him an invaluable addition to teams all around the world.

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After helping Northern Suburbs end their 41-year NSW Shute Shield drought in 2016, Cron went on to coach the Australian Under-20s in 2017 and was later a Waratahs assistant for a few years.

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Before joining the Force, Cron was also the head coach of Japanese club Tokyo Verblitz from 2019 to 2022, but it seems he’s found himself a home at the Force out west.

“If you look at the players who take to the field every week, they excite us as coaches,” Cron discussed. “We’re excited about them.

“We love the personalities, we love their drive to succeed, we love seeing them every day on the field, pushing each other for success.

“We believe we’ve got the core of something special growing here. That’s what’s excited me about staying here.”

Following pre-season trials against the Queensland Reds and ACT Brumbies, the Western Force are now looking ahead to their 2024 Super Rugby Pacific season opener against the Hurricanes.

The Force will host the fixture at Perth’s HBF Park on the night of February 23.

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H
Hellhound 42 minutes ago
France put World Cup pain behind them with unbeaten run in November

France is starting to look like they are finally over their WC headache, although they were lucky that NZ had a very bad game. The Argies as usual is one game good, the next bad. If they can sort that out and be more consistent, they could become contenders for the WC.


NZ, Argentina (if they are more consistent), and now the Wallabies too is in an upward curve (can they be consistent?), as well as Fiji(as inconsistent as Argentina) looks like possible contenders. The Boks will be as usual a huge threat to defend their title. Things are looking up for the South, so the North should rightfully beware of the Southern Hemisphere threat.


With the French looking dangerous, the English with their close runs (mostly a mindset problem) and the Scottish seems to be the NH main contenders. The Irish is good, but not excellent anymore. They are more overbearing and with their glory days mostly gone with old players hanging on by a thread, by 2027 if they don't start adding in the younger players, they won't make it past yet another WC Quarter final. The problem is that their youngsters, while good is nothing special.


That is just 8 teams without the Irish that can become real WC contenders. Lots of hickups to be sorted still for these teams, excluding the Boks to become a threat. Make no mistake, the top Tier is much closer than people realise and the 2027 WC will be a really great WC, possibly the best contended WC ever.

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