Joe Schmidt reveals the ‘good thing’ with Zac Lomax and which position suits him best in rugby union
Wallabies head coach Joe Schmidt (inset) and new Western Force signing Zac Lomax.
Wallabies head coach Joe Schmidt is keen to see Zac Lomax in action for the Western Force and feels wing is the best position for him in rugby union.
It was confirmed earlier this month that Lomax had signed a two-year contract with Rugby Australia and the Western Force, effective immediately.
The 26-year-old is an experienced rugby league player who made 133 appearances in the NRL after spells with the St. George Illawarra and Parramatta Eels clubs and he also represented New South Wales in the State of Origin series and Australia at international level.
Lomax, who plied his trade on the wing in 13-a-side code, walked out on a three-year contract with Parramatta Eels last year and was heavily linked with a move to the rebel league, R360.
However, R360’s plans to launch its global rugby series in 2027 have been pushed back until 2028 which meant there was uncertainty over the Lomax’s future.
Lomax is the latest high profile Australian rugby league player to make the switch to union after it was confirmed earlier this year that Sydney Roosters duo Angus Crichton and ex-Wallaby Mark Nawaqanitawase will also be heading to the 15-a-side code.
Crichton is set to switch codes and join the Waratahs after signing a deal with Rugby Australia effective from 2027 while Nawaqanitawase will head to Japan to play rugby union for the Saitama Wild Knights later this year.
Schmidt, who will be in charge of the Wallabies for their opening Nations Championship Tests against Ireland, France and Italy in July before stepping down from his position to allow Les Kiss to take over the coaching reins, revealed that he has been in contact with Lomax and is impressed with the player’s attitude.
‘He’s not getting ahead of himself’
“The good thing with Zac is he’s not getting ahead of himself. I’ve had a conversation with Zac and so has Les Kiss. Simon Cron (Force coach) is working with him at the moment,” he said on Stan Sport’s Rugby Heaven show.
“He impressed me as being very driven, and he’s driven to try to help the Force, first and foremost.
“And I like that about a player who is not thinking about where they can go. They’re thinking about how they can help.
“It’s what he can add to the team that he plays for, and Zac has very much been like that thus far.”
The Force are set to host the Chiefs in their Super Rugby Pacific clash in Perth on Saturday and Cron has opted to leave Lomax out of his matchday 23 which means the code hopper will have to wait another week before he makes his rugby union debut.
There has been plenty of speculation about Lomax’s position once he makes his rugby union bow – possibly against the Reds in Brisbane on April 4 – and Schmidt believes he will line up on the wing initially.
“For the Force, I think Dylan Pietsch is currently injured, so it could be on the wing. They have a couple of injuries and a couple of guys who aren’t there now in the midfield, so it could be there,” he said.
“But I think wing is probably the most likely, but that is definitely up to Simon Cron.
‘Interested to see how he goes’
“And they’ll make that decision. I’ll be interested to see how he goes.”
Schmidt revealed that he was impressed with Lomax’s knowledge of the came and said he won’t be surprised if he changes positions in the backline once he settles into his new code, although he feels wing is the best spot to ease him into rugby union.
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“I just think wing, with the aerial game and the way that’s developed, he’s not super tall, but he’s quite a tall guy with a big, broad set of shoulders and good spring,” he explained.
“He’s very good in the air. Just having that on the edge is beneficial for starters. He’s got good top-end speed, so he ticks a few boxes on the wing.
“It can be a bit lonely defending on the wing, and whoever’s playing full-back, if it is Mac Grealy, for example, or Max Burey, they’re going to maybe have to help him just positionally originally.
“But even talking to him, he’s a bit of a student of the game. He knew who else was there, who else was in the Australian system, how they’d played in the Spring tour.
“He’s definitely already trying to work out how he best defends in different positions, but wing and fullback were two of the ones that we talked about briefly.”
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