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All Black tighthead prop signs long-term extension after breakout season
Hurricanes prop Tyrel Lomax was out of the All Blacks picture at the start of the 2022 season but has now inked a new four-year deal with NZR off the back of a stellar 2022 year.
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Lomax has re-committed to New Zealand Rugby until the end of 2026, and will remain eligible for the All Blacks with the Hurricanes and Tasman Mako.
“My family and I are very happy to have re-signed with Tasman, the Hurricanes and NZR – three outfits I feel very privileged to represent,” Lomax said in a statement released by NZR.
The deal caps off a dramatic change in fortunes for the 23-Test All Black after being called into the All Blacks squad as injury cover after the side lost to the Springboks in South Africa last year.
He played for the Maori All Blacks against Ireland during July and was in the middle of an NPC campaign with Tasman when he was drafted in.
Lomax replaced Chiefs prop Angus Ta’avao in the starting side for the second test at Ellis Park as part of a revamped front row which laid the platform for an infamous 35-23 win.
The 27-year-old then retained his starting role for the rest of the season becoming an integral part of the All Blacks forward pack as the first-choice tighthead.
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The long-term commitment for Lomax is a major career milestone after taking a winding path to become an All Black starter.
The Canberra-born son of a rugby league great began his Super Rugby career with the Melbourne Rebels after 10 caps with the Australia U20 side.
In 2017 he made the move across the ditch to New Zealand, signing with the Highlanders and Tasman.
As a Highlander he made his All Blacks debut in 2018 as part of the experimental side that played Japan on the end of year tour but would have to wait another two years to wear the black jersey again.
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A franchise switch to the Hurricanes in 2020, a move back to where he grew up in Wellington, coincided with a recall to Ian Foster’s side, featuring in five Tests that year before seven more in 2021.
“We were delighted to sign Tyrel in 2020 and he has been a key member of our club since then,” said Hurricanes CEO Avan Lee.
“He is a really humble man that is going from strength to strength on the field, and it’s great to see him cement a place in the All Blacks too.”
“Tyrel has been an integral part of our pack and our scrum over the last couple of years,” said Hurricanes head coach Jason Holland.
“Over the last 12 months he has also been outstanding for the All Blacks. So it’s massive for the Hurricanes to have him as the cornerstone of our pack.”
Seemingly out of favour again in 2022, Lomax took his chance and is now firmly in line to play at his first Rugby World Cup later this year in France.
Lomax has 33 caps with the Tasman Mako at NPC level, winning a provincial title in 2019 with the side. At Super Rugby level he has 84 caps, of which 40 are with the Hurricanes.
He has represented the Maori All Blacks eight times and the All Blacks 23 times to date.
Comments on RugbyPass
Both nations missed a great opportunity to book a game that would have had a lot of interest from around the world. I understand these games can’t be organised in 5 minutes but they should have found a way to make it happen. I don’t think Wales are ducking anyone but it’s a bad look haha.
3 Go to commentsIt will be fascinating to see the effect that Jo Yapp has. If they can compete with Canada and give BFs a run for their money that will be progress
1 Go to commentsFollowing his dream and putting in the work. Go well young fella!
3 Go to commentsPerhaps filling Twickenham is one of Mitchell’s KPIs. I doubt whether both September matches will be at Twickenham on consecutive weekends. I would take the BF one to a large provincial stadium so as not to give them the advantage and experience of playing at Twickenham before a large crowd prior to the RWC.
1 Go to commentsvery unfortunate for Kitshoff, but big opportunity potentially for Nché to prove he is genuinely the best loosehead in the world, rather than just a specialist finisher. Presuming that if Kitshoff is out, it will also give Steenekamp a chance to come into the 23? Or are others likely to be ahead of him?
1 Go to commentsA long held question in popular culture asks if art imitates life or does the latter influence the former? Over this 6 nations I can ask the same question of the media influencing the thoughts of its audience or vice versa. Nobody wants to see cricket scores in rugby, as a spectacle it is not sustainable. With so many articles about England’s procession and lack of competition it feeds the epicaricacy of many looking for an opportunity to pounce. England are not the first team to dominate nor does it happen only in rugby, think Federer, Nadal, Red Bull or Mercedes, Manchester Utd, Australia in tests and World Cups. Instead of celebrating the achievements why find reasons to falsify it pointing towards larger playing pool, professional for a longer period or mitigate with the lack of growth in other nations. Can we not enjoy it while it is here and know that it won’t last for ever, others coveting what England have will soon take the crown, ask the aforementioned?
6 Go to commentsShame he won’t turn out for the Netherlands now they’re improving. U20s are Euro champs and in the U20 Trophy this year. The senior sides gets better every year too.
3 Go to commentsWill rugbypass tv be showing these games?
1 Go to commentsWell where do you start, the fact that England have a professional domestic league and Ireland’s is fully amatuer, that they have fully seperated professional squads at Fifteens and Sevens (7’s thinly disguised as GB), and Ireland have fully pro Sevens squad who loan some players back to the Semi-Professional Fifteens squad (moved from amateur for only a year or so) for a few games at 6N & RWC’s. The Women’s games is a shambles, and is at risk of killing itself by pushing for professionalism when the market isn’t really there to support it outside one or two countnries..
6 Go to commentsWayne Smith's input didn't have as much impact on the last final as Davison's red card for Thompson. England were 14 points up and flying when that happened.
6 Go to commentsBilly's been playing consistently well for 2 - 3 seasons now and deserves a look in at the top level. Ioane and ALB are still first choice but there needs to be injury cover and succession. His partnership with Jordie gives him first dibs you'd think. Go the Hurricanes.
3 Go to commentsIt’s not up to Wales to support Georgian Rugby. That’s up to International Rugby and Georgia. I sympathise with Georgia’s decent attempt to create this fixture. But for Wales the proposed match up is just a potential stick to beat them with and a potential big psychological blow that young Welsh team doesn’t need. (I’m Irish BTW.)
3 Go to commentsCale certainly looks great in space, but as you say, he has struggled in contact. At 23 years old, turning 24 this year, he should be close to full physical maturity and yet there exists a considerable gap in the power and physicality required for international rugby. Weight doesn’t automatically equate to power and physicality either. Can he go from a player who’s being physically dominated in Super rugby to physically dominating in international rugby in 1 or 2 years? That’s a big ask but he may end up being a late bloomer.
28 Go to commentsIf rugby wants to remain interesting in the AI era then it will need to work on changing the rules. AI will reduce the tactical advantage of smart game plans, will neutralize primary attacking weapons, and will move rugby from a being a game of inches to a game of millimetres. It will be about sheer athleticism and technique,about avoiding mistakes, and about referees. Many fans will find that boring. The answer is to add creative degrees of freedom to the game. The 50-22 is an example. But we can have fun inventing others, like the right to add more players for X minutes per game, or the equivalent of the 2-point conversion in American football, the ability to call a 12-player scrum, etc. Not saying these are great ideas, but making the point that the more of these alternatives you allow, the less AI will be able to lock down high-probability strategies. This is not because AI does not have the compute power, but because it has more choices and has less data, or less-specific data. That will take time and debate, but big, positive and immediate impact could be in the area of ref/TMO assistance. The technology is easily good enough today to detect forward passes, not-straight lineouts, offside at breakdown/scrum/lineout, obstruction, early/late tackles, and a lot of other things. WR should be ultra aggressive in doing this, as it will really help in an area in which the game is really struggling. In the long run there needs to be substantial creativity applied to the rules. Without that AI (along with all of the pro innovations) will turn rugby into a bash fest.
24 Go to commentsSouth Africa rarely play Ireland and France on these tours. Mostly, England, Scotland and Wales. I wonder why
2 Go to commentsIt was a let’s-see-what-you're-made-of type of a game. The Bulls do look good when the opposition allows them to, but Munster shut them down, and they could not find a way through. Jake should be very worried about their chances in the competition.
2 Go to commentsHats off to Fabian for a very impressive journey to date. Is it as ‘uniquely unlikely’ as Rugby Pass suggests, given Anton Segner’s journey at the Blues?
3 Go to commentsSad that this was not confirmed. When administrators talk about expanding the game they evidently don’t include pathways to the top tier of rugby for teams outside of the old boys club. Rugby deserves better, and certainly Georgia does.
3 Go to commentsLions might take him on if they move on Van Rooyen but I doubt he will want to go back, might consider it a step backwards for himself. Sharks would take him on but if Plumtree goes on to win the challenge cup they will keep him on. Also sharks showing some promising signs recently. Stormers and Bulls are stable and Springboks are already filled up. Quality coach though, interesting to see where he ends up
1 Go to commentsAnd the person responsible for creating a culture of accountability is?
3 Go to comments