My old man’s a Kiwi but I’ve got an All Blacks cap
While the hosts will spend the next few days allowing muscle therapists and physios to soothe the bruises and sprains they accumulated against the South Africans, the refreshed All Blacks’ tier-one players, who have not played since beating Australia 37-20 in Yokohama on October 28, will be feeling fresh and eager for battle.
After Gardner declared the game over and the Springboks players’ heads sagged with dismay, a thrilled England coach Eddie Jones couldn’t contain his excitement. When asked about the upcoming test against the All Debutant prop Tyrel Lomax knows his dad won’t mind at all that he’s now an All Black.
The son of former Kiwis hardman Johnny Lomax made his first test start off the bench for New Zealand on Saturday night in the 69-31 win over Japan in Tokyo.
Lomax played 31 minutes and said his dad won’t be fussed that he’s now an international rugby player and not a rugby league representative.
‘‘It doesn’t matter, as long as I’m playing for New Zealand,’’ Lomax said.
The 22-year-old said his father wasn’t one to offer much advice.
‘‘I think the days of him playing international footy are a bit different to sport now,’’ Lomax said.
‘‘He had a few words of inspiration for me – just go out there and make Blacks, Jones responded in the only way he could. Bring it on, was the message.
‘‘We can’t wait to get them,’’ Jones said.
Teams want to measure themselves against the best in the world, he said, and England will get their chance against World Rugby’s top-ranked team. the family proud.’’
Lomax was born and raised in Australia and played league growing up, before switching to union in his last two years of secondary school in Canberra – where dad made his name
It will be the first time the two sides have met since 2014; for Jones, who replaced the sacked Stuart Lancaster after England’s disastrous World Cup campaign in 2015, it will be a chance to have a crack at the New Zealanders while in charge of England.
Unlike Jones, who was unable to select Billy and Mako Vunipola, Courtney Lawes, Joe Launchbury and Chris Rodber because of injuries and may also have to wait to see how other banged up forwards recover, All Blacks coach Steve Hansen has a full set of veterans ready to go.
Hansen, his assistants and a with the Raiders.
He said his test debut went ‘‘really fast’’.
‘‘You don’t really have time to catch your breath and you’re always moving. It’s what I expected of an international game and I enjoyed it.’’
Lomax pilfered turnover ball for the All Blacks shortly after coming handful of players from the Tokyo game, flew out from Japan yesterday. And unlike Jones, the All Blacks management will not have to fret about the possibility of fronting the judiciary with a key player.
If Farrell is cited for his tackle on Esterhuizen it could leave England without arguably their most influential player.
Jones told media he will deal with that issue if it arises: ‘‘You can get cited now for something you did at a party when you were 15,’’ Jones said. ‘‘I’ve no idea what can happen.’’ on and said that helped settle a few nerves but didn’t get to feature in many set-pieces in a wide-open encounter.
‘‘They’re a really good scrummaging side and that’s where I can try and impose myself as a prop,’’ he said.
Lomax, who plays for the Tasman Mako and the Highlanders, said he had picked up plenty from All Blacks scrum coach Mike Cron.
‘‘He looks at it from a totally different point of view from what I’ve come across since I’ve been playing professional rugby.
‘‘I’ve learnt so much from him in the last week – he’s given me a few tips and things to improve on for next year, like how as a taller prop, a few ways of coming under a guy who’s a bit shorter than me.’’
‘‘He had a few words of inspiration for me – just go out there and make the family proud.’’
Tyrel Lomax on the advice he got from father Johnny, a former Kiwi league international