Harry Johnson-Holmes On Simon Cron And Western Force Pre-Season Preparations.

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After finishing ninth in the 2025 Super Rugby season, the Force have added significant depth to their squad ahead of the upcoming season opener. In the forward pack, with Tongan international Feao Fotuaika and experienced Super Rugby star Sef Fa'agase.

Ahead of the Australian clubs' opener against the ACT Brumbies in over two weeks, the Force take on the Brumbies tomorrow morning. Five Wallabies are returning to the team, including Tom Robertson, Jeremy Williams, Nick Champion de Crespigny, Carlo Tizzano, and Hamish Stewart. Johnson-Holmes will also make his second consecutive start, for the first time since his ACL injury. The former Wallabies prop spoke exclusively to Ruck last night.

"Yeah, it was a massive goal for us at the start of the rehab to get back for day one of preseason. And we achieved that. The reason for that goal is to put myself in a good position to get fit and get plenty of rugby under my belt going into this season. Good to get back on the horse before the season officially kicks off, it's not a luxury everybody is afforded."

"It's been awesome to even get back playing with the boys. That's definitely made it worthwhile." The Australian prop added.

Ahead of the 2026 season, the Force have named a stacked lineup to take on the ACT Brumbies tomorrow morning. In the forward pack, Johnson-Holmes will start alongside Wallabies star Tom Robertson, with Sef Fa’agase on the bench as a replacement.

"When you talk about those kinds of lads, they're the ones who know how to prepare and how to motivate themselves. You talk about steel sharpening steel, being able to train against really high-quality rugby players. Everyone wins. And even for young guys coming through and getting an opportunity to scrum against Sef or Tom (Robertson), it's only making them better." Johnson-Holmes revealed

Following the conclusion of the 2025 Super Rugby Pacific season, former All-Black international Tom Donnelly departed the force to join the Wallabies coaching staff. During last night's interview, Johnson-Holmes revealed his experience working with Donnelly's replacement, Craig Dunlea. Dunlea spent the past four seasons as Canterbury’s NPC assistant coach.

"I've really enjoyed working with Craig. He had big shoes to fill with Tom Donnelly moving higher on, and he's done an awesome job. He's kind of the scrum version of Tom Donnelly. We obviously had such a powerful lineout and maul last year. I think to be able to flip the priorities a little bit, and get a good bit of TLC on our scrum. I think it was something we identified as an Achilles heel. Scrums last year just weren't up to scratch, and we were giving away too many cheap penalties."

According to official statistics from Super Rugby, the Western Force had the worst scrum in the 2025 Super Rugby Pacific season. Finishing with an 89% scrum win percentage, sitting in eleventh behind Moana Pasifika and the NSW Waratahs.

After being on the brink of a finals spot last year, finishing the season in ninth, the set piece was one factor that led to a late-season collapse from the Force last year. During that late-season fall-off, Johnson-Holmes was still sidelined with injury.

"You obviously can't help but feel helpless sitting in the stands. It's kind of like what the fans must feel week in week out. Bit of perspective there. Feeling like a season-ticket holder. I think to have that opportunity to see how hard the boys were working day in and day out last year to get results that didn't go our way. You want to be able to add value."

"I think you just get that bigger picture, the intricate stuff, and the technical stuff. That's hard to see from the stands. But I suppose the game as a whole and how momentum affects the game, it's something that's a little bit easier to notice up in the stands." Johnson-Holmes explained.

Looking to make his first competitive start for the club, the Western Force prop also spoke about his potential ambitions to pull on the gold jersey for the Wallabies. Johnson-Holmes has one appearance at the international level, against the Springboks in 2019.

"I've always kind of said that those ambitions are probably reserved for those who have been playing for starters. To have those ambitions, it's just a little unfair on my body, I reckon. For me, my goals are to get back to playing well. And that starts here at the Force. It's putting my best foot forward and working hard to produce good performances out on the field so that I can repay the organization for having the faith to keep me around." The Force prop explained.

Despite sitting out for the 2025 season, the Force made the decision to re-sign the 1-cap Wallaby. Head coach Simon Cron was delighted to bring back Johnson-Holmes. Claiming him as a key part of their "squad-makeup." The Australian prop spoke about the faith put in him by Cron.

"Yeah, it was the reason I came in the first place. I owe a lot to Simon, the first forwards coach I had in my professional career, and someone that I respect highly and hold in high regard. The value he sees in me is awesome, and something that I hope to repay him with. Crony, especially throughout the entirety of my rehab, has been very positive."

"He didn't have to sell too much to me. I think what I was finding was so many guys coming over here and finding that extra level in their game. You talk about guys like Jeremy Williams and Ben Donaldson who came over here and became regular international players. I didn't really need to listen to Crony's sale pitch; I was just really excited to work with him again."

"And it's been very geared towards how good the return is going to be and how good it's going to be for Crony and me to share a beer over a few wins and hopefully some silverware," Johnson-Holmes added.

After narrowly missing out on a place in the Super Rugby finals last year, Cron has brought in some significant reinforcements to make that final push. During the recent interview, Johnson-Holmes explained how the Force wants to go further than simply making the playoffs.

One player that Cron has brought in to help with that push is All Blacks international George Bridge. The right winger, who can play around almost the entire backfield, was part of the All Blacks’ side that won the 2021 Rugby Championship. With 19 test appearances, the All Blacks star has scored twelve tries in his international career.

"Yeah, it's massive. When Bridgie got announced, I thought maybe he'd lost a leg or something. I was expecting an amputee to rock up. Because for the Force to lock down someone with his class and caliber, it's a great get for us. He's just been one of those guys; what he does on the field is so immense. And what he brings off the field as well helps younger guys to see the game through a different lens. His expertise around the game of rugby is second to none."

Looking ahead to the 2026 season, the All Blacks international will start the Force's final preseason game tomorrow, playing in the 13 role. The Western Force’s trial game against the Brumbies will kick off at 4:35 PM WST at Scotch College, with free entry to fans and a free livestream provided.

Meanwhile, Johnson-Holmes will be looking ahead to his first potential competitive start for the Force in just over two weeks. Looking to finally make his first appearance at HBF Park, Cron's men take on the Brumbies on the 14th of February at 08:35 AM GMT.

1. Starred on the Test scene – Johnson-Holmes has made a single appearance for the Australian national team under former head coach Michael Cheika

2. Super Rugby Pacific veteran – Before signing for the Western Force, he made over 91 appearances for the NSW Waratahs between 2018 and 2024.

3. Prolific Try Scorer – During his time with the Waratahs, over 6 years, he notched over 55 points, scoring eleven tries in his 91 appearances for the club.

4. Set to make competitive debut – Johnson-Holmes has yet to make his competitive debut for the Western Force due to injuries suffered at the start of 2025.

5. Bond with head coach - The former Waratahs prop made his Super Rugby Pacific debut under current Western Force head coach Simon Cron. Cron was an assistant coach for the Waratahs in 2018.