Jonah Holmes (born 24 July 1992) is a professional

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

player who plays as a

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces both Lift (force), lift and drag while moving through air. Wings are defined by two shape characteristics, an airfoil section and a planform (aeronautics), planform. Wing efficiency is expressed as lift-to-d ...

for

Ealing Trailfinders Ealing Trailfinders Rugby Club is an English professional rugby union club based in West London. The club's first team are the reigning RFU Championship champions of 2024–25 but were considered ineligible for promotion to Premiership Rugby a ...

in the

RFU Championship The RFU Championship is an English rugby union competition comprising twelve clubs. It is the second level of men's English rugby and is played by both professional and semi-professional players. The competition has existed since 1987, when Eng ...

. He scored two tries in six appearances for

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

before moving to Ealing, which effectively ended his international career. He currently plays for London Scottish.

Early life

Holmes was born in

Stockport Stockport is a town in Greater Manchester, England, south-east of Manchester, south-west of Ashton-under-Lyne and north of Macclesfield. The River Goyt, Rivers Goyt and River Tame, Greater Manchester, Tame merge to create the River Mersey he ...

, England. He played junior rugby for London Scottish until the age of 16 but then left to only play with his school

St Benedict's School, Ealing St Benedict's School, usually referred to as St Benedict's, is a British co-educational, independent Catholic day school for pupils aged 3-18 situated in Ealing, West London. A Benedictine school, it accepts and educates pupils of all faiths. H ...

where he was considered a star in the making.

Professional career

Holmes initially played scrum-half, but during a loan spell with

Henley Hawks Henley Hawks is a rugby union club based in Henley-on-Thames and is one of the leading rugby clubs in the Thames Valley. The first team play in the fourth tier of the English league system; National League 2 East. History Henley RFC was foun ...

, he switched to the back three, playing wing and full-back. At the suggestion of

Lyn Jones Richard Lyn Jones (born 5 June 1964) is a Wales international rugby union former player. Originally playing as a flanker, Jones subsequently became a coach. He played most of his playing career for Neath RFC and started his coaching career at t ...

, who was his coach during a brief spell at

London Welsh London Welsh Rugby Football Club () was a rugby union club formed in 1885. Based in Old Deer Park, Richmond-upon-Thames, London Welsh RFC played in the English Premiership in the 2012–13 and 2014–15 seasons, after gaining promotion from ...

, he concentrated solely on the back three. In 2013 Holmes joined Leeds Carnegie, since renamed

Yorkshire Carnegie Leeds Tykes (formerly Leeds RUFC, Leeds Carnegie and Yorkshire Carnegie) is an English rugby union club in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, playing in the National League 2 North. The club was founded as Headingley FC, but renamed in 1991 whe ...

, on loan from London Wasps. Holmes scored six tries in his first six games for the Yorkshire side. Holmes made the move permanent in the summer, as part of a swap deal with Glyn Hughes. On 23 December 2013, after scoring 22 tries in 34 games, signed a new long term deal with

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

. On 1 June 2017 it was announced that Holmes would join

Leicester Tigers Leicester Tigers (officially Leicester Football Club) are a professional rugby union club based in Leicester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded in 1880 and since 1892 plays its home ...

for the 2017–18 season. Holmes scored 10 tries in 11 games during the 2017/18 season and provided a ''Man of the Match'' performance against

Northampton Saints Northampton Saints (officially Northampton Rugby Football Club) is a professional rugby union club from Northampton, England. The club plays in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby union. It was formed in 1880 as "Northampton St. ...

Twickenham Twickenham ( ) is a suburban district of London, England, on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historic counties of England, Historically in Middlesex, since 1965 it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, who ...

in October 2018, he was called up to the

squad on 16 October 2018. He qualifies through his grandparents. Holmes made his international debut for Wales on 17 November 2018 against

Tonga Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania. The country has 171 islands, of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in the southern Pacific Ocean. accordin ...

at the

Millennium Stadium The Millennium Stadium (), known since 2016 as the Principality Stadium () for sponsorship reasons, is the national stadium of Wales. Located in Cardiff, it has a retractable roof and is the home of the Wales national rugby union team; it has ...

. Holmes left Leicester at the end of the 2019–20 season, a year before his contract was due to end to join the

Dragons A dragon is a magical legendary creature that appears in the folklore of multiple cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in Western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depict ...

in Wales. On 20 September 2020, Holmes made his debut against

Bristol Bears Bristol Bears (officially Bristol Rugby Club or Bristol Rugby) are a professional rugby union club based in Bristol, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded as Bristol Football Club in 18 ...

in a Challenge Cup quarter final defeat.

International tries

Personal life

Holmes is the nephew of Olympic gold medal-winning rower

Andy Holmes Andrew John Holmes MBE (15 October 1959 – 24 October 2010)

and is a graduate in biomedical sciences from

Birkbeck, University of London Birkbeck, University of London (formally Birkbeck College, University of London), is a Public university, public research university located in London, England, and a constituent college, member institution of the University of London. Establ ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Holmes, Jonah 1992 births Living people Dragons RFC players 21st-century Welsh sportsmen English rugby union players Leeds Tykes players Leicester Tigers players London Welsh RFC players Rosslyn Park F.C. players Rugby union players from Stockport Rugby union wings Wales international rugby union players Wasps RFC players Welsh rugby union players People educated at St Benedict's School, Ealing