Zack Holmes (born 30 May 1990) is an Australian

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 for

Toulouse Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...

Top 14 The Top 14 () is a professional rugby union club competition that is played in France. Created in 1892, the Top 14 is at the top of the national league system operated by the National Rugby League (France), France National Rugby League, also ...

. He is a utility back who has played

fly-half In the game of rugby union, there are 15 players on each team, comprising eight forwards (wearing jerseys numbered 1–8) and seven backs (numbered 9–15). In addition, there may be up to eight replacement players "on the bench", numbered 16� ...

and at

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

Early career

The ARU lists Holmes' Representative Honours as including WA Schools (2007) and Combined States (2007). He played for the

Australian Sevens The Australia Sevens is an international rugby sevens tournament that was first played in 1986. Currently hosted as the Sydney Sevens, the event is part of the World Rugby Sevens Series. The tournament was held in Brisbane, in Adelaide, and on ...

at the

USA Sevens The USA Sevens is a rugby sevens tournament held annually during March in the United States. The USA Sevens is the largest annual rugby competition in North America, having drawn over 80,000 fans to events. The USA Sevens was introduced in 2004 ...

tournament in Las Vegas, and he was a member the Australian 2009–10 IRB Sevens squad that played in

George George may refer to: Names * George (given name) * George (surname) People * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Papagheorghe, also known as Jorge / GEØRGE * George, stage name of Gior ...

and

Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...

.ARU Profile
/ref> Holmes grew up in Perth. His father Graeme, a New Zealander and former

Waikato The Waikato () is a region of the upper North Island of New Zealand. It covers the Waikato District, Waipā District, Matamata-Piako District, South Waikato District and Hamilton City, as well as Hauraki, Coromandel Peninsula, the nort ...

halfback, encouraged his son in sports. In addition to rugby union Holmes also played

Australian rules Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

and soccer. He said his three biggest rugby influences were his Dad, Michael O'Connor and

Scott Fava Scott Fava (born 19 January 1976 in Kiama, Australia) is an Australian retired rugby union footballer. Super 14 Scott Fava began his Super Rugby career with the Queensland Reds in 1999, playing for three seasons before moving on to the ACT Brum ...

. In 2003 he held the national title for the 400 metres in his age-group. In late 2010 he was selected as part of the Perth XV to play teams from Victoria and South Australia in the Southern State Championships. Holmes studied at Aquinas College and the University of WA and played club rugby at Associates RUFC before he moved from Perth to Sydney where he played senior rugby for

Northern Suburbs Northern Sydney is a large metropolitan area in Greater Sydney, New South Wales, Australia on the north shore of Sydney Harbour and Parramatta River. The region embraces suburbs in Sydney's north-east, north and inner north west. Northern Sy ...

at centre, on the wing, and also at full back.Norths, 10 questions with Zack-Holmes
/ref> In 2011 Holmes broke the Norths record for the 'most points in a single season'.

Professional career

Holmes joined the

Western Force The Western Force is an Australian professional rugby union team based in Perth, Western Australia, currently competing in Super Rugby, Super Rugby Pacific. They previously played in Super Rugby from 2006 until they were axed from the competitio ...

academy in 2009. In 2011 the

Brumbies The ACT Brumbies (known from 2005 to 2022 as simply the Brumbies) is an Australian professional rugby union team based in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory (ACT), The team competes in Super Rugby and named for the feral horses which inh ...

recruited Holmes as a 'utility back', and he performed well in a trial game in October. He had been at Norths, in Sydney. Holmes had signed a two-year contract with the Brumbies to commence

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

. He made his debut in March, as substitute for wing Joseph Tomane, against the Chiefs at

Baypark Stadium Mercury Baypark Stadium (formerly known as Trustpower Baypark Stadium) is a multi-purpose stadium in Tauranga, New Zealand. It is currently used for dirt track speedway and jetsprint events during summer, and various other events throughout th ...

Mount Maunganui Mount Maunganui (, ) is a major residential, commercial and industrial suburb of Tauranga located on a peninsula to the north-east of Tauranga's city centre. It was an independent town from Tauranga until the completion of the Tauranga Harb ...

. As "rookie fly-half" he made his Brumbies run-on debut, in

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

against the

Hurricanes A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system with a low-pressure area, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depending on its locat ...

, in May. He had been selected as a No.10 replacement for the injured

Christian Lealiifano Christian Pharaoh Leali'ifano (born 24 September 1987) is a professional rugby union player who plays as a fly-half for Super Rugby club Moana Pasifika. Born in New Zealand, he represents Samoa at international level after qualifying on ancestr ...

. As first-receiver Holmes helped guide the Brumbies to a 37–25 victory over the Hurricanes. He kicked four conversions (from 4 attempts) and three penalty goals (from 4 attempts) and scored a try in the 69th minute. He returned to the for the

2014 Super Rugby season The 2014 Super Rugby season is the fourth season of the 15-team format for the Super Rugby competition involving teams from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. For sponsorship reasons, this competition is known as Asteron Life Super Rugby ...

on a two-year deal. On 16 July 2015, Holmes left

in Australia to join France

club

La Rochelle La Rochelle (, , ; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''La Rochéle'') is a city on the west coast of France and a seaport on the Bay of Biscay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Charente-Maritime Departments of France, department. Wi ...

on a two-year contract from the 2015-16 season. On 14 December 2016, Holmes signed for French rivals

from the 2017-18 season.

Super Rugby statistics

References

External links

Brumbies profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Holmes, Zack 1990 births Living people Australian rugby union players ACT Brumbies players Australian expatriate rugby union players in France Perth Spirit players Rugby union fly-halves Rugby union players from Perth, Western Australia University of Western Australia alumni Stade Rochelais players Western Force players Stade Toulousain players Northern Suburbs Rugby Club players People educated at Aquinas College, Perth 21st-century Australian sportsmen