'He would have made a fantastic rugby league player' - Wales call-up nearly ditched union for league
Jonah Holmes has been getting used to life as a Wales call-up in recent weeks, but if a former coach had his way then the opportunity might have arisen in a different code.
When James Lowes made an emotional return to the Bradford Bulls and rugby league in June 2014, he left behind a talented group of union players at Leeds Carnegie.
Carnegie, with Lowes as head coach, had just come within two minutes of a shot at a Premiership return, a late Gordon Ross penalty consigning them to a 60-58 aggregate defeat to London Welsh in the RFU Championship play-off semi-final.
Welsh went on to seal promotion, but as Lowes settled into his new Odsal office and attempted to save Bradford from Super League relegation there was one player above all that he wished to take with him from Headingley.
“When I got to Bradford the first person I wanted to bring in was Jonah because he would have made a fantastic rugby league player,” Lowes told RugbyPass.
“We talked about it and I was really keen to get him in but I think Jonah still had burning ambitions in the game of rugby union and rightly so… he had his own points to prove, getting sort of let go by Wasps.”
Continue reading below….
Lawrence Dallagio on why Eddie Jones doesn’t trust Danny Cipriani
Lowes admits that the Bradford move was a hard sell, but three years later there was interest from Carnegie’s cross-code cousins, Leeds Rhinos – en route to an eighth Super League title – who considered offering Holmes a dual registration deal.
Timing was not on the Rhinos’ side, however, and once the Leicester Tigers made their own move in the summer of 2017, Holmes’ mind was made up.
“He would have fitted in quite well but the opportunity at Leicester came up and he wanted to take that,” Lowes added.
Holmes had to wait for his chance at Welford Road, not making his Premiership debut until November. But having been on the radar of the Welsh Rugby Union’s Exiles programme since 2012 the Stockport-born wing’s performances this year have been good enough to turn Gatland’s head.
The Tigers player has credited Lowes with helping him fall in love with the game again following his initial loan move from Wasps in 2013. The former rugby league star remains in contact with his former charge, although any hopes of luring him north have receded considerably since his Wales call-up.
Lowes worked with Holmes in two spells at Headingley and while he knew little about him when he initially arrived, it did not take long for his qualities – particularly his finishing ability – to emerge.
“My initial thoughts were just that he’s got very good core basic skills,” Lowes said. “He can catch a ball, he can pass a ball and when he catches a ball he’s got good running ability.
“He scored a lot of s in the both stints I’ve worked with him, and one of his other really big strengths is he finishes half-chances.
“You just have to give Jonah 10 half-chances and he’ll score eight out of 10, easy. He’s very good at taking half-chances.
“He was very inexperienced when he came to us and playing him regularly certainly helped him adapt to the higher level, and you can see that at Leicester this year.”
Holmes’ try-scoring instincts were such that Lowes attributes Carnegie’s slump from play-off finalists in 2017 to mid-table also-rans the following season to the departure of the Tigers wing and his back-three colleague Seb Stegmann.
“We were still creating the same chances the following year but we weren’t finishing them off and it made a big impact on some of our results,” Lowes said.
“Some of the close games that we should have won, we probably would have won with those two there – in particular Jonah.”
Lowes used Holmes primarily on the wing, although he has proved at Carnegie and more recently with Leicester to be at least as adept at full-back. He had moved into the back three from scrum-half during dual-registration stints at Henley Hawks and London Welsh while at Wasps.
“He’s got very good pace anyway, we had other options at nine and he seemed to be better suited on the wing,” former Henley head coach Steve Barnes told RugbyPass.
“He scored some great tries. (He was) strong, physical, he’s a tall lad, well built and took some stopping.”
Holmes is fondly remembered in Henley, where despite his tender years, he made a good impression both on and off the pitch. “He created that impact,” Barnes added.
“He was a very likeable young man as well. Good moral character, good, strong individual.”
Lowes also talks of a well-liked, laid-back and at times reserved character who should have no trouble adapting to his new surroundings with Wales. “I don’t know anybody who didn’t like him as a bloke,” he said. “Everybody that comes across Jonah goes away with a smile on their face.”
But Holmes was so unassuming in his early days at Carnegie that it took his former head coach more than a month to realise that his new addition could play scrum-half.
“I only used to play one scrum-half that year (2013-14),” Lowes said. “We got an injury to our scrum-half who played and while we were figuring out who to play Jonah said ‘oh, I’ve played there before’. So I said ‘oh, right, well get in there then and do it’.
“That was Jonah, he’d tell you something a bit late.”
At 25 Holmes is also entering the international stage a tad belatedly, but his mentor is in no doubt that he can have a positive impact for Wales next month. “Give him a run of games,” Lowes said. “He’ll do a great job.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Thanks Nick The loss of players to OS, injury and retirement is certainly not helping the Crusaders. Ditto the coach. IMO Penny is there to hold the fort and cop the flak until new players and a new coach come through,…and that's understood and accepted by Penny and the Crusaders hierarchy. I think though that what is happening with the Crusaders is an indicator of what is happening with the other NZ SRP teams…..and the other SRP teams for that matter. Not enough money. The money has come via the SR competition and it’s not there anymore. It's in France, Japan and England. Unless or until something is done to make SR more SELLABLE to the NZ/Australia Rugby market AND the world rugby market the $s to keep both the very best players and the next rung down won't be there. They will play away from NZ more and more. I think though that NZ will continue to produce the players and the coaches of sufficient strength for NZ to have the capacity to stay at the top. Whether they do stay at the top as an international team will depend upon whether the money flowing to SRP is somehow restored, or NZ teams play in the Japan comp, or NZ opts to pick from anywhere. As a follower of many sports I’d have to say that the organisation and promotion of Super Rugby has been for the last 20 years closest to the worst I’ve ever seen. This hasn't necessarily been caused by NZ, but it’s happened. Perhaps it can be fixed, perhaps not. The Crusaders are I think a symptom of this, not the cause
6 Go to commentsNo way. If you are trying to picture New Zealand rugby with an All Blacks mindset, there have been two factors instrumental to the decline of NZ rugby to date. Those are the horror that the Blues have become and, probably more so, the fixture that the Crusaders became. I don’t think it was healthy to have one team so dominant for so long, both for lack of proper representation of players from outside that environment and on the over reliance on players from within it. If you are another international side, like Ireland for example, sure. You can copy paste something succinct from one level to the next and experience a huge increase in standards, but ultimately you will not be maximizing it, which is what you need to perform to the level the ABs do. Added to that is the apathy that develops in the whole game as a result of one sides dominance. NZ, Super, and Championship rugby should all experience a boom as a result of things balancing out. That said, there is a lot of bad news happening in NZ rugby recently, and I’m not sure the game can be handled well enough here to postpone the always-there feeling of inevitable decline of rugby.
6 Go to commentsNo SA supporter miss Super Rugby - a product that is experiencing significant head wind in ANZ - the competition from rival codes are intense, match attendance figures are at a historical low and the negativity of commentators such as Kirwan and Wilson have accelerated the downward spiral in NZ. After the next RWC in 2027 sponsors will follow Qantas and start leaving in droves.
2 Go to commentsLike others, I am not seeing the connection between this edition of the Crusaders and the All Blacks future prospects under Razor. I think the analysis of the Crusaders attack recently is helpful because Razor and his coaching team used to be able to slot new guys in to their systems and see them succeed. Several of Razor’s coaches are still there so it would be surprising if the current attack and set piece has been overhauled to a great extent - but based on that analysis, it may have been. Whether it is too many new guys due to injuries or retirement or a failure of current Crusaders systems is the main question to be answered imo. It doesn’t seem relevant for the ABs.
6 Go to commentsharry potter is set in stone. he creates stability and finishes well. exactly what schmidt likes. he’s the ben smith of australian rugby. i think it could quite easily be potter toole and kellaway for the foreseeable future.
5 Go to commentsThis is short sighted from Clayton if you ask me, smacks of too much preseason planning and no adaptability. What if DMac is out for a must win match, are they still only going to bring their best first five and playmaker on late in the game? Trusting the game to someone who wasn’t even part of planning (they would have had Trask pinned in as Jacomb preseason). Perhaps if the Crusaders were better they would not have done this, but either way imo you take this opportunity to play a guy you might need starting in a final rather than having their 12th game getting comfortable coming off the bench.
1 Go to commentsThanks Brett.. At last a positive article on the potential of Wallaby candidates, great to read. Schmidt’s record as an international rugby coach speaks for itself, I’m somewhat confident he will turn the Wallaby’s fortunes around …. on the field. It will be up to others to steady the ship off the paddock. But is there a flaw in my optimism? We have known all along that Australia has the players to be very competitive with their international rivals. We know that because everyone keeps telling us. So why the poor results? A question that requires a definitive answer before the turn around can occur. Joe Schmidt signed on for 2 years, time to encompass the Lions tour of 2025. By all accounts he puts family first and that’s fair enough, but I would wager that his 2 year contract will be extended if the next 18 months or so shows the statement “Australia has the players” proves to be correct. The new coach does not have a lot of time to meld together an outfit that will be competitive in the Rugby Championship - it will be interesting to see what happens. It will be interesting to see what happens with Giteau law, the new Wallaby coach has already verbalised that he would to prefer to select from those who play their rugby in Australia. His first test in charge is in July just over 3 months away .. not a long time. I for one wish him well .. heaven knows Australia needs some positive vibes.
21 Go to commentsWhat a load of bollocks. The author has forgotten to mention the fact that the Crusaders have a huge injury toll with top world class players out. Not to mention the fact that they are obviously in a transition period. No this will not spark a slow death for NZ rugby, but it does mean there will be a new Super Rugby champion. Anyone who knows anything about NZ rugby knows that there is some serious talent here, it just isn’t all at the Crusaders.
6 Go to commentsI wouldn’t spend the time on Nawaqanitawase! No point in having him filling in a jersey when he’s committed to leave Union. Give the jersey to a young prospect who will be here in the future.
5 Go to commentsIt was a pleasure to watch those guys playing with such confidence. That trio can all be infuriating for different reasons and I can see why Jones might have decided against them. No way to justify leaving Ikitau out though. Jorgensen and him were both scheduled to return at the same time. Only one of them plays for Randwick and has a dad who is great mates with the national coach though.
53 Go to commentsBrayden Iose and Peter Lakai are very exciting Super Rugby players but are too short and too light to ever be a Test 8 vs South Africa, France, Ireland, and England, Lakai could potentially be a Test player at 7 if he is allowed to focus on 7 for Hurricanes.
7 Go to commentsPencils “Thomas du Toit” into possible 2027 Bok squad.
1 Go to commentsDon’t see why Harrison makes the bench. Jones can play at 10 if needed, and there is a good case for starting her there to begin with if testing combinations. That would leave room for Sing on the bench
1 Go to commentsWhat a load of old bull!
1 Go to commentsOf the rugby I’ve born witness to in my lifetime - 1990 to date - I recognize great players throughout those years. But I have no doubt the game and the players are on average better today. So I doubt going back further is going to prove me wrong. The technical components of the game, set pieces, scrums, kicks, kicks at goal. And in general tactics employed are far more efficient, accurate and polished. Professional athletes that have invested countless hours on being accurate. There is one nation though that may be fairly competitive in any era - and that for me is the all blacks. And New Zealand players in general. NZ produces startling athletes who have fantastic ball skills. And then the odd phenomenon like Brooke. Lomu. Mcaw. Carter. Better than comparing players and teams across eras - I’ve often had this thought - that it would be very interesting to have a version of the game that is closer to its original form. What would the game look like today if the rules were rolled back. Not rules that promote safety obviously - but rules like: - a try being worth 1 point and conversion 2 points. Hence the term “try”. Earning a try at goals. Would we see more attacking play? - no lifting in the lineouts. - rucks and break down laws in general. They looked like wrestling matches in bygone eras. I wonder what a game applying 1995 rules would look like with modern players. It may be a daft exercise, but it would make for an interesting spectacle celebrating “purer” forms of the game that roll back the rules dramatically by a few versions. Would we come to learn that some of the rules/combinations of the rules we see today have actually made the game less attractive? I’d love to see an exhibition match like that.
29 Go to commentsIrish Rugby CEO be texting Andy Farrell “Andy, i found our next Kiwi Irishman”
5 Go to commentsI certainly don’t miss drinking beers at 8am in the morning watching rugby games being played in NZ.
2 Go to commentsThis looks like a damage limitation exercise for Wales, keeping back some of their more effective players for the last 20/25 minutes to try and counter England’s fresh legs so the Red Roses don’t rack up a big score.
2 Go to commentsVery unlikely the Bulls will beat Leinster in Dublin. It would be different in Pretoria.
1 Go to commentsI think it is a dangerous path to go down to ban a player for the same period that a player they injured takes to recover. Players would be afraid to tackle anyone. I once tackled my best friend at school in a practice match and sprained his ankle. I paid for it by having to play fly-half instead of full-back for the rest of that season’s fixtures.
5 Go to comments