Cornish Pirates

Tyrone Holmes Flanker
May 31st 2009

Tyrone Holmes, a South African-born tearaway flanker, has been confirmed as the Cornish Pirates last signing to complete the club's 32-man squad.

Taking up rugby at the age of nine for Sun Valley Primary School, Tyrone has not stopped since. He was the youngest captain of Fish Hoek Senior High School, and he then attended the RPC Rugby Performance Centre run by Allan Zondag. During his two years spent at the RPC, Tyrone had a four months spell in France playing for Toulon.

On leaving the RPC, Tyrone spent five months with Northampton Saints, where he enjoyed learning from some of the game's 'greats', such as Carlos Spencer, Bruce Reihana and Ben Cohen. However, when the Saints were relegated for a season into National One they changed their structure and consequently most of their Academy players were cut.

Returning to Cape Town, where he has lived most of his life despite being born in Johannesburg, Tyrone furthered his career, playing for Western Province. He was in the team that won the Currie Cup Under 21s Championship in 2007, and the following year played for both Western Province and the Griquas in the senior Currie Cup competition.

In 2009, Tyrone was a member of the Western Province Vodacom Cup competition squad, and he was also honoured to be selected for the South African Sevens squad. Unfortunately, however, he didn't play for the Sevens team because of an ankle injury.

During his time with Western Province, Tyrone has played alongside Wylie Human, 'Springbok' Conrad Jantjies and many others who have played for the Stormers in the 'Super 14' competition.

Besides rugby, Tyrone has represented his country at the Ice Hockey World Championships (as has his brother), and he has represented Western Province in life saving. His father was born in Scotland, which is why Tyrone has a British passport, and his grandfather played rugby for Peebles.

On signing for the Cornish Pirates, Tyrone commented:

"Joining the Cornish Pirates offers me a fresh challenge and another opportunity to learn new things. I hope to bring something valuable to the squad and the club, whilst my aspirations are to achieve my goals as a professional rugby player and to play in a World Cup."

Chris Stirling, High Performance Manager for the club added:

"We are delighted to have signed Tyrone and the coaching staff are very happy with the mix and breakdown of the squad. It blends a mix of youth and experience, and together we are all looking forward to the new Championship and the challenges that lie ahead."