To Cron, rugby's engine room is a matrix

One scrum hardly makes a rugby season, not according to Dan Cron anyway.
Scrummaging is a different matter though. On that topic Cron could talk the humps off a camel.
Cron, officially employed as the video analyst at Northland rugby headquarters, is now regarded as the local scrum doctor, the man who has some sort of understanding about the unforgiving coalface of the rugby tradition.
To us scrums might be an inconvenient distraction between the referee blowing the whistle and Fetu Vainikolo scoring a try. To Cron, the sight of 16 heaving bodies is a matrix of opportunities.
And after Northland managed to overpower North Harbour at scrum time in the opening game of the Air NZ Cup last week, it is Cron who is begrudgingly accepting some plaudits.
Begrudgingly because Cron is just like his Dad, Mike Cron, who is widely regarded as the world authority on scrummaging, but hates getting credit for it.
It seems having genealogical links between Dan Cron with the Northland rugby team and the his father Mike Cron , the resident All Blacks scrum expert, has definite advantages.
Especially when Dan Cron emails home and attaches videos of the Northland forward pack at scrum time.
While Dad's advice is good, Dan Cron is starting to get a few of his own ideas now and is applying them to the Northland team, with some impressive results.
But, while starting to formulate his own theories, Dan still doffs his cap to his Dad. It was impossible to escape a good scrummaging yarn in the Cron household anyway, so it was bound to rub off.
"It is something I have been working on for about two years now. I went back down to Canterbury in the summer helping the old man out by taking some of his workload with 1st XVs, schools and women's rugby teams," Cron said.
"Scrums and talk about scrums is pretty much 24/7 in the Cron household. It was pretty much all we talked about, especially last year, and it never takes long to creep into conversation whenever we talk these days.
"I went to all his seminars over summer and listened. Every time he did a training I was there, filming and watching. But what works for the All Blacks does not necessarily work for Northland, so I have tweaked a few things for us.
"This year I have got some more responsibility. Mainly it has been looking after Bronson Murray and his shift from loosehead prop to tighthead. That isn't easy you know, to compare it is a bit like asking halfback to move to fullback," he said.
"But we are pretty lucky, he is a tough hombre who is willing to learn and do the hard work." As impressed with Murray's last performance as he was, Cron is wary about talk that scrummaging woes are over for Northland, especially with Otago the next opponent tomorrow night.
Cron is contemplating all manner of permutations, citing statistics and percentages that make a maths lesson seem downright inspiring. He has some suspicions about Otago's likely tactics at scrum time tomorrow night, and is coming up with ways to counter.
"It is all about balance and being able to be set up. Scrummaging used to be 80 percent about the hit but these days it is all about how you set up, the hit is still important, but the set-up is the key."