“We’re two games into a season and I reckon he’s beaten at least 15 defenders. Unbelievable athlete and a lot of what he does seems effortless.”
The words are from Ealing Trailfinders back-rower Simon Uzokwe, picking his dream team for The Rugby Paper. The player he is talking about is Jonah Holmes, the Wales international who left the Dragons last summer.
Holmes was said to have been less than impressed with the pay offer he received after losing his place in the Welsh Rugby Union’s elite 38-man squad (you can read about the curious case of Jonah Holmes here). But his account is that the main driver for his call was a desire to return to where he was raised and play for his local club.
“I was surprised I wasn’t asked about this at the time,” he tells WalesOnline. “There was a lot of speculation but no-one came forward to ask me what was going on.
"The Wales stuff was completely separate — it happens. I didn’t get picked for the autumn or the Six Nations and that’s just the way it goes.
“I was under the impression early on I would be taken out of the 38-man squad so the pay offer I received would have taken that into account. It was up to me whether to accept it or not.
“But I just needed to enjoy my rugby again. An opportunity came up that I couldn’t really turn down. I just felt I needed a new challenge.
"I enjoyed my time in the Premiership with Leicester, but I’m from London and I feel there’s enough time left in my career for me to put my best game forward. There was the chance of playing for my hometown after 10 years of being away. That was it, really.”
Holmes won seven caps in all with Wales, including one in the Grand Slam campaign of 2019, starting against Italy.
But rewind to the end of the 2020-21 campaign and he was attracting rave reviews with the Dragons, making clean breaks, scoring tries and causing all kinds of problems for opposition defences. Welsh rugby’s form player at the time, he looked well capable of cementing a place in the national set-up.
Sure enough, a spot in the Wales squad for the Tests with Canada and Argentina in the summer of last year duly followed, with Holmes scoring tries in the two games he played. But there his Test career stopped.
Looking back, he says he still has positive memories. “I won only seven caps but it was fantastic, something every boy dreams of and I was lucky to have been involved in so many camps and campaigns. I got to experience working under two different management teams, the first led by Warren Gatland, the second by Wayne Pivac. I learned from both and from the coaches who worked with them. I count myself very fortunate and because of everything I learned, I feel I can now offer more on the pitch.
“What was Shaun Edwards like to work under? Brilliant, precise. As I say, there was so much I took out of the Wales experience.”
But playing in England as a Test player with fewer than 60 caps means Holmes has likely ended his Wales career under the Welsh Rugby Union’s current selection policy. For him, that must have been a big call to make.
“It was a huge deal, one of the biggest factors I had to take into account,” he says. "But I wanted to join Ealing at the time and didn’t really see a way out, other than to move away.
“I didn’t speak to anyone, so I didn’t know what their plans were. I wasn’t selected for two campaigns, but it’s fine. You take that as a player. There didn’t seem to be much that was happening. But that’s the way it can go sometimes. You take it on the chin and move on.
“If you’re not in favour, there’s only so much you can do about it. That is rugby, that is sport. I’ve played long enough to know that’s the way it is sometimes.”
Ealing is proving everything he hoped for, though.
The English Championship club have started the campaign with a flurry of victories and have ambitions to eventually join the top flight. They also play an attractive brand of rugby and Holmes has started the campaign in his preferred position of full-back.
“I’m settling in really well,” Holmes says. ”Ealing are a great club, the set-up is amazing and the way they’ve integrated me into the team has been something else. I have no complaints whatsoever.
"They are doing things the right way. Our director of rugby Ben Ward knows that you can’t just buy players, sit back and watch things happen. Ealing have a great physiotherapy staff, while the strength and conditioning people are really good, as well, along with the nutritionist and the psychologist.
“They are a professional outfit — I don’t think any other club in that Championship is as professional. In fact, I’d go as far as to say they are better than some Premiership outfits in the way they are set up."
He continues: “I’ve enjoyed playing at full-back, as well. I’ve played there for four or five games now and I prefer it because I’m involved in the game more. I’d like to think I make more impact from No. 15, though I’m not sure where I’ll play this weekend.”
Let’s return to the Dragons and Dean Ryan, the man in charge when Holmes was there and who now appears to have left his role, albeit there has been no formal confirmation.
Despite his own exit from Rodney Parade, Holmes has no hard feelings.
“I got on with Dean and liked him, he’s a good man,” says Holmes. “I don’t know what the story is this season. But it was good to see them win last weekend.
“We had a lot of good players when I was there. That was one of the most frustrating things, especially being a back-three player and playing on the wing specifically. Sometimes you didn’t touch the ball. It was tough.
“But there’s a lot of talent in that squad. It’s that old phrase, but on paper they had a better team than a lot of other sides.
“I don’t want to list the good players. There were too many and I don’t want to miss anyone out. But it’s good to see the younger boys coming through, like Taine Basham, while I see Rio Dyer scored a great try against Munster a few days ago.”
One coach Holmes will be more expansive about is his old boss at London Welsh, Lyn Jones.
“There aren’t many coaches who virtually every single person likes, but Lyn is one of them,” says Holmes. “He knows the game inside out and he’s funny with it. It was great to work under him.”
With that we’re done. Holmes will still keep a watchful eye on Welsh rugby but he is no longer part of it.
Ealing have gained from the episode and the game on the western side of the River Severn has said goodbye to a highly capable player who had the potential to settle at international level. But what’s done is done.
“I just want to enjoy my rugby now and do all I can for my club,” says Holmes.
It’s a sentiment not without merit.
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