Western Force head coach Simon Cron and Reds assistant Zane Hilton have been added to Australia-New Zealand XV’s coaching staff for their clash with the British & Irish Lions in Adelaide in July.
Cron, who was born in New Zealand, has been in charge of the Force since 2023 and transformed the Perth-based outfit into a competitive unit at Super Rugby Pacific level.
He was re-signed by the Force a year later until the end of the 2026 campaign after narrowly missing out on the play-offs in his maiden year.
Helped Reds reach Super Rugby Pacific play-offs in 2025
Meanwhile, Hilton will follow Reds head coach Les Kiss to the Australia-New Zealand XV staff after helping the Reds advance to the play-offs in 2025.
Apart from his stint with the Reds, Hilton also had coaching spells in Italy, Japan, Samoa and Tonga.
The duo joins head coach Kiss and fellow assistant coach Ian Foster as part of the coaching staff for the eagerly anticipated encounter with the Lions on July 12.
Kiss was named as the Australia-New Zealand XV’s head coach earlier this month, while Foster’s appointment was confirmed back in March.
“We are excited to assemble an experienced coaching panel of Australian and New Zealand leaders under Les Kiss for what promises to be a thrilling game between the AUNZ Invitational XV and the Lions,” said Rugby Australia’s head of high performance, Peter Horne.
“This will be the first time a combined Australian and New Zealand has taken the field since 1989 and the strength of this coaching staff is befitting such an occasion.
‘A unique and beneficial experience’
“For Les, the opportunity to coach against the British and Irish Lions twice on this tour will no doubt prove a unique and beneficial experience and add to his outstanding international coaching resume which has included senior roles with the Springboks and Ireland ahead of his transition to the Wallabies’ head coach position next year.
“Ian Foster will no doubt provide a wealth of knowledge and experience to Les and the squad, having served as attack coach for the All Blacks during the Lions’ tour of New Zealand in 2017 among his many other international accomplishments.
“Les and Ian will be joined by two outstanding leaders from within the Australian High Performance system, Simon Cron and Zane Hilton, who will add tremendous insight and energy to the AUNZ Invitational XV squad for a match against the Lions in Adelaide that will be one of the highlights of the global rugby calendar this year.”
Src: Planetrugby.com - https://www.planetrugby.com/news/super-rugby-pacific-coaches-added-to-combined-australia-new-zealand-xv-backroom-staff-for-lions-clash
