WHEN it comes to player movement this summer, English rugby‘s normal merry go round has been somewhat of a slow spin, a reminder of the fragility the game still has as it looks to work its way out of the woes left by Covid.
No longer are squads bursting at the seams with a clutch of names for every position going. Instead, purse strings have been tightened and contracts, especially those of a fulltime variety, have become harder to find.
Just ask Jonah Holmes, the Welsh international, who is now juggling a part-time deal with London Scottish with that of pursuing a career as a commercial building surveyor.
For the past two seasons, the 32-year-old was playing for Ealing Trailfinders, making a real name for himself with 25 tries and helping the Londoners to the Championship title last season, as well as a place in the semi-final of the Premiership Rugby Cup.
A move to part-time rugby, however, was not quite how the seven-capped speedster envisaged things panning out.
“It just got to a point where there were no options available to carry on full-time,” Holmes told The Rugby Paper. “I spoke with Bryan Redpath, who I worked with at Leeds, and he said ‘let’s get the band back together’.
“I’ve got a connection with London Scottish from my youth, I’m still living in London, plus they play in the Championship, so the move worked well for me in a lot of ways.
“It’s been a change going part-time, probably a bit sooner than I expected, but rugby clubs are the same pretty much wherever you go.”
Certainly, Holmes is well travelled within the game, having started his senior career with Wasps in 2010, before checking in for spells at Leeds Carnegie, Leicester Tigers, Dragons and, more recently, Ealing, where he has got to know the demands of the Championship well.
“It’s a tough league, but it’s also a strange one,” added Holmes, who was handed his Test debut for Wales by Warren Gatland in 2018 against Tonga – and a year later he was part of their Grand Slam-winning squad.
“You’ve got four fulltime teams and the rest part-time, yet there’s still competition each week. I’m not quite sure what that says about the league, but it’s good that the part-time clubs are still competing.
“There is something drastic about to happen in rugby, it’s just when and what – so I just hope that the Championship doesn’t suffer.”
Whatever the future holds remains to be seen, but for now Holmes is laser-focused on the here and now and the role he can play for Scottish this season.
“Speaking with Brushy (Redpath) and the other coaches, you can see there is an ambition to be a better side than last season and the years before,” said Holmes.
“The club were teetering around the bottom of the Championship, which is not what they want. The desire is not to be there this season, we want every game to count.”
