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Name: Luke Holmes
Position: Hooker
Height: 184cm
Weight: 106kg
Date of Birth: 14/11/1983
Club: Nedlands (nobody's perfect!)
Super 14 Team: Emirates Western Force
Super 12/14 Caps: 4
2007 Super 12/14 Caps: 3
Honours: 2004 - Australian U21s 2001 - Australian Schoolboys
Former Warringah Rat Luke Holmes is a product of the Narrabeen Sports High School program, from which he rose to captain the Australian Schoolboys in 2001 on a tour of Great Britain. Luke played in Warringah with teammates AJ Whalley and Lachlan MacKay. Prior to joining the Western Force as a Foundation player, He was the number 3 hooker for the Waratahs and played for NSW A. Since seeing the light, Luke made his Super 14 debut in the EWF’s final game of 2006, against the Sharks in Durban, coming on for Tai McIsaac. He returned to South Africa a few weeks later as starting hooker on the Western Force Gold development tour, playing in all three tour matches at number 2. A broken leg suffered while playing a final for Nedlands kept Luke out of the APC squad. 2007 has seen Luke’s fortunes improve markedly. Due to the unfortunate retirement of Brendan Cannon, Luke notched up another 3 Super 14 caps coming off the bench replacing Tai McIsaac. Upon the conclusion of the Super 14 season, Luke was thrust into the spotlight, playing every game of the ARC, rotating the start with Tai. His hard work and quality play has paid dividends, Coach John Mitchell did not see the need to replace him with a more experienced option for the 2008 season, refusing to sign a third hooker to the squad until late in the pre-season signing 18 year old Ben Whittaker to the Firepower RugbyWA Academy. Mitchell’s preferred option is to convert a prop to play hooker in the event of injury. This shows significant faith in the quality and durability of this relatively green hooking team. Luke’s position at 16 seems assured, with the likelihood of a rotation policy being implemented, as the team requires it.