Tyrel Lomax of the All Blacks. Photo: Jeremy Ward
All Blacks prop Tyrel Lomax is back in the starting side after a couple of injury setbacks and he desperately wants to beat the Springboks in his hometown.
The Hurricanes front rower missed the first two tests of the French series in July with a calf injury. He returned for the third match in Hamilton only to break his thumb, with the injury requiring surgery, ruling him out of the first two Rugby Championship tests in Argentina.
Lomax concedes it was hard.
"It was definitely tough. I love being in this environment, love representing the All Blacks, so to be sidelined for a couple weeks was tough. Obviously, I got back for the third test, but then broke my thumb pretty early on into that game," Lomax told RNZ.
"I had to sit out of the Argentina tour and that was also tough. I've had a couple of injuries over the last sort of 12 months, which has been frustrating."
All Blacks prop Tyrel Lomax. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
However, Lomax, who also suffered a gruesome gash to his thigh, requiring 30 stitches on last season's end of year tour, insists he never felt sorry for himself.
"I've been doing this for about 10 years now and have been pretty lucky to get through those 10 years without many scratches. So I'll probably take that, even with the last 12 months and those few injuries.
"I've just had to go away and rehab and make sure that when I came back in, I was ready to go."
Lomax made his return via the bench in the last weekend's win over the Springboks at Eden Park.
"I guess like most of the boys, that's one that we'd sort of marked out on our calendar since it was announced that we'll be playing the Springboks at Eden Park. I've played there a lot over the last couple of years and been a part of some pretty awesome wins. The history that goes into that place, 51 games we haven't lost. It was awesome to go out there and defend that."
The All Blacks are now in Wellington with the chance to reclaim the Freedom Cup, with the challenge to produce a performance equal to their efforts in Auckland.
"Last week we came off a pretty disappointing loss against Argentina, so we reviewed that game quite open and honestly and I don't think anything's changed this week. There are still a lot of things (from the Eden Park test) that we need to get right," Lomax told RNZ.
"For myself, I came off the bench and that last quarter of the game we sort of let them get back into it. That's been a big focus for us this week, the guys coming off the bench making sure that they come on and do their job because the boys who started played really well, especially in that first quarter."
Tyrel Lomax of the Hurricanes with his children before his 100th Super Rugby game. Photo: Elias Rodriguez / www.photosport.nz
The Springboks have a win and a draw from their last two tests in Wellington and Lomax, from Wainuomata, wants run to end.
"I guess it's completely different stats compared to Eden Park. It's not a place that the All Blacks have been very successful over the last couple of years, so that's something that being from Wellington you want to get on top of. This is my home and we want to go out there and get a win for our fans."
Lomax will have plenty of fans in the stands with his family, including those that live in Australia, heading to the test.
"I'll have most of them coming for the game. My parents (Lomax's father is former Kiwis prop John Lomax) are over from Brisbane for this one. It will be awesome to see some familiar faces in the crowd," he said.
"I have a few people come from Wainui that might sort of fill up a quarter of the stadium, so I'll have a few eyes on me and I've got to go out there and do my job."
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