Kiwi to lead Wallabies U20
The 40-year-old Cron will be joined by the equally successful, Carl Marshall who coached Brothers to Grand Final success in Queensland Premier Rugby in Brisbane this year and Classic Wallaby Nic Henderson who is part of the Melbourne Rebels Pathways program as Assistant Coaches.
Hailing from New Zealand Cron’s rise to the position comes off the back of two successful seasons in 2016 with Norths breaking their 41-year title drought in the Shute Shield and taking the Macquarie University Sydney Rays to the semifinals of the National Rugby Championship .
The Australia U20 will compete in the planned Oceania Rugby U20 Championship in April and the World Rugby U20 Championship to be held in Georgia in June, which has become the global stepping zone for young rugby players to make the leap to professional rugby.
In 2016 the Australia U20 defeated New Zealand U20 for the first time since U20 matches began at the Oceania Rugby U20 Championship on the Gold Coast.
ARU National Performance Programs Manager, Adrian Thompson said: "We have assembled a really strong coaching team for the Australia U20 and the appointments show the critical learning and development pathways that exist for coaches within Australia.
"Simon and Carl have been able to show significant potential through their work at club rugby and NRC levels and we want to add to their ongoing development plans by providing this well-earned international opportunity.
"The World Rugby U20 Championship in Georgia will be a historic first for our game and an exciting opportunity for the class of 2017 to prove themselves on the world stage,"
Commenting on his new role as the Australia U20 head coach Simon Cron said: "I’m very excited to be given this opportunity to coach Australia’s next generation of potential Wallabies.
"The U20 competition involves the best rugby athletes from around the globe and this is something myself and my fellow coaches in Carl and Nic are really looking forward to getting stuck into.
"Our goal is to put a squad together who can go to Georgia and win the World Championship.
"As part of that, we must develop players who can step up into the Qantas Wallabies, Super Rugby and Sevens to compete on the International stage,"
The Super U20 Championship will kick-off in February of 2017 with the five Australian Super Rugby franchises represented in the six-week competition.
