God’s gift to scrumming …

Imagine being the guy who gave the world the likes of Carl Heyman, Owen Franks, Ben Franks, Wyatt Crockett, Tony Woodcock, Olo Brown and Craig Dowd … Sure the godfather of scrumming, Mike Cron, was given some damn fine raw material to work with, but my oath, that is a CV to be proud of …

So it was with much anticipation that I took to a recent interview with Cron by the BackingBlack.com’s Reece Lightning … And it did not disappoint!

Below, then, an ode to the modern day scrum by Mike Cron, courtesy of www.backingblack.com …

[BB] What path did you take to become what you are most well-known for – a scrum coach?

[MC] “When I was still playing in Christchurch, back in the late 70s, early 80s, I don’t know how it happened, but with the teams I was involved with, I was sort of in charge of the scrums too. When I finished playing I started getting rung up to go and help other clubs, and from that I started doing provincial sides, under age grades, then senior sides. Then I started getting flown up to the North Island. It all sort of snowballed from there really.”

[BB] When you watch a game of rugby on the telly or live at a Test match, what are you looking at specifically, because a lot of us are a little clueless?

[MC] “I always liken it back to golf, because I think everyone understands the game of golf. The first thing you have to do is get your set-up right. In golf that’s like holding the club and addressing the ball correctly, and for us in scrummaging we’re bent over, balanced, and in control of our body. The next area like golf is the swing, where you have to swing through the ball and follow through. For us that’s the engagement process. We engage, we hit the opposition, then we continue transferring power through into the opposition. Then the third stage is staying strong with movement. So for me they are the three key areas: set-up, engagement, and staying strong with movement. However, when I watch a game I’m looking at the opposition, and whether they are trying to bend the rules or little cues like that.”

[BB] Is there one particular position in the scrum which is the most crucial? Why?

[MC] “They are all important positions but tighthead prop is key. You live and die by your tighthead prop. The way a scrum is formed, or the way the two front rows pack against each other, the actual axis of the scrum – the centre point or where it rotates around – is the opposition hooker’s right shoulder. Why I say that is that is because the scrum’s left side naturally moves forward ahead of the right side, it’s the natural screw or ‘tilt’ due to the way it is set up. Consequently, the tighthead prop – he’s the guy on the right hand side – is going in to the wind or into the stream if you like. Whereas, the guy on the loosehead side is going down stream, he’s got the wind behind him, so to speak. So as well as the opposition pushing against him, the tighthead prop also has the natural screw of the scrum pushing against him too.”

[BB] What do you look for in a player when it comes to good scrummaging?

[MC] “We’re dealing in big forces, no different to lifting or pushing heavy weights. I’ve worked for many years with biomechanists who have helped me understand the body a lot more, so I’m always looking at good strong and safe technique. That’s making sure your angles are right, to make sure you can always transfer the correct power, as well as resisting power against you. The safest technique is the strongest technique as it turns out. I’ve been working with scrums since 1980 and I can’t remember any of my front rowers getting neck or back injuries or anything like that. That’s because we’re pedantic at making our guys work on their technique to allow them to scrummage correctly.”

[BB] The front row, are they coachable? Or do you just look for big lads with plenty of grunt?

[MC] “No, no, no, no [chuckles]. Quite often you could line up 50 guys at the gym, and it might not even be the top 10 powerful lifters that would make the best scrummagers. It’s how you use your body. Some bodies are tense and strong, whereas other bodies feel like they have more movement, like they are little ‘looser’. With front rowers, they need to be the former. Consequently, guys that work the farm – manual workers, these kind of guys – they generally know how to use their bodies to stay strong with movement. So you might not be the most powerful man in the gym, but you could well be the most powerful man scrummager because you can use your body better.”

[BB] Who are some of the best scrummagers you’ve ever seen?

[MC] “I think you’ve got to look at the different eras. It’s changed a lot over the last ten years with more power coming into the scrum, as the players get bigger, weight-wise. So they are getting stronger with rugby being professional. If I think about the modern-day era, all of the All Black front rowers I’ve dealt with have been excellent. One guy that stands out for me, though, had been dropped from the All Blacks before being brought back. He then developed into probably the best tighthead prop in the world – I’m talking about Carl Hayman. He stands out for me, particularly because he stands 6 foot 4. Carl changed the landscape of the tighthead prop.”

[BB] Why is the All Blacks scrum traditionally so strong?

[MC] “Well I think it’s fair to say that over the years, and in the early days, that era of All Blacks forwards were traditionally from the farming community. The likes of Colin Meads and Brian Lochore and those gentlemen were used to working, and in those days the work would have been more manual than the modern era, I would suggest. These were naturally big, strong, powerful men who understood their body and probably never went to the gymnasium … they didn’t have to, they were lifting weights all day through work.”

[BB] How has the All Blacks forward pack managed this year with a couple of key forwards in Brad Thorn and Jerome Kaino leaving?

[MC] “It’s an interesting and exciting time to bring in a lot of new boys. We have one eye on next week and one eye on the future of the team. With the selectors bringing in some new players – and some being younger players – it’s a great challenge for them, and for us as a coaching staff, it’s quite exciting. I think overall the new players have gone very well this year, they would have learnt a lot so far, and they have represented themselves very well. We’re pleased with how they are going.”

[BB] Will the scrum ever lose its purpose in the game of rugby?

[MC] “There are fewer scrums and lineouts in rugby now due to the ball being in play more; we now see more ruck and mauls. But I don’t think it will ever diminish because the ‘charter of rugby’ says it’s a game for all shapes and sizes and the scrum is the one area where you do need big, strong men and rugby does cater for bigger blokes. Over the years they keep changing the rules and tinkering with things, and they’ll continue to do that, but there will always an emphasis on having a game for all shapes and sizes, so I believe the scrum will stick around.”

[Tank Lanning] – Oh what I would give for a dinner and few beers with this guy …