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Go Homer. How good would it to have Tom and Feleti in all all WF front row!
Western Force prop Greg Holmes is on the verge of a remarkable return to the Wallabies after shock recall
Nick Taylor
The West Australian
Mon, 6 September 2021 4:47PM
Western Force prop Greg Holmes is on the verge of another Lazarus-like comeback to international rugby after being called into the Wallabies squad ahead of The Rugby Championship.
The veteran front-rower, 38, who trained with the Wallabies in Perth last week as cover for the injured Pone Faamausili, last played for Australia five years ago.
If Holmes pulls on the Wallabies jumper against either South Africa or Argentina it would be an astonishing return - but it still wouldn’t beat his previous remarkable comeback.
That time round he went seven years, nine months and 19 days between his 13th and 14th caps.
He made his debut in 2005 against France in Marseilles but it seemed his career may have ended two years later after the World Cup.
However in 2015, in a comeback Wallabies captain Stephen Moore described as “surreal”, he played 11 more internationals, won selection to his second Rugby World Cup and came off the bench in six of the seven matches of that campaign.
He played the last of his 27 Tests the following year.
The highly decorated Holmes joined the Force last year after two seasons in England with Exeter after 144 games with the Queensland Reds.
He had thought of retirement before getting the call from Force coach Tim Sampson quickly changed his mind.
He joined fellow Force front-rowers Tom Robertson and Feleti Kaitu’u and newly signed second-rower Izack Rodda on the flight to Queensland where the Wallabies face South Africa and Argentina.
Assistant coach Dan McKellar insists the side is “closer than people would think” to New Zealand and South Africa despite three straight Bledisloe Cup defeats.
He said they were frustrated with the results and had to make better use of opportunities.
“Very disappointed and frustrated,” McKellar said.
“We’ve had some really good periods within all three games but have been our own worst enemy at times.
“Reality is we gifted the All Blacks opportunities and points.
“We think we’re closer than most people would think, but the reality is we need to go back and focus on South Africa.
“We’ve got genuine belief as a coaching group. We’ve had a good look at South Africa and we see opportunities.
“They are a different side, they are a scrum, line-out, maul, defence based side.
“They prefer to play without the ball for long periods of time They will give us the ball, we’ve got to be smart with what we do with it.
South Africa are going to present an enormous challenge up front, big men who have a real thirst for scrummaging and mauling.”