When it comes to his rugby roots, it’s safe to say Archer Holz is pretty unique, having started out with Lightning Ridge Tigers!
That’s the junior rugby league side where it all began for the Scarlets’ Aussie prop – in his home town in the New South Wales outback. He then switched to Union when he went to boarding school, beginning a wandering journey which now finds him plying his trade in west Wales.
The 25-year-old tight-head has impressed with his strong scrummaging since joining the Scarlets in the autumn of 2024 and will have an important role to play in Friday night’s BKT United Rugby Championship clash away to Edinburgh Rugby.
It’s the league’s Origin Round this weekend as it looks to celebrate the clubs and communities which have helped launch players’ careers and Holz certainly has a tale to tell on that front.
“I am from a little country town in Oz called Lightning Ridge, which is about a ten hour drive from Sydney,” he explains. “We only had a rugby league team growing up because there are only about 500 people in the town.
“I was actually very lucky. I had the opportunity to go away to boarding school in Parramatta when I was nine and from there I picked up rugby union. I played all the way through school and fell in love with it. I started at hooker, but then grew about a foot and gained a bit of weight and they moved me off to the side!”
He began his senior career with Eastern Suburbs in Sydney before playing Super Rugby with the Brumbies and Waratahs. International recognition followed when he was capped by Australia A and then came a spell with French club La Rochelle before he rejoined the Waratahs ahead of signing for the Scarlets. He’s had some challenging times over the past couple of years, with a shoulder injury, a virus and then worrying scenes during the Champions Cup encounter with Bristol in December when he was stretchered off in a neck brace.
But, happily, that problem wasn’t as serious as first feared and he was back in action over Christmas, while he has started at tight-head in the last two rounds of the BKT URC.
Reflecting on his time in Wales, he says: “It’s been fantastic, honestly. “There are a lot of similarities between the Welsh and the Aussies, just the way everyone goes about things. It just feels very familiar. The main difference is the weather, but I haven’t minded the cold. It’s been good. It makes it a bit easier running around here, rather than in 40 degrees!
“I am feeling really settled in now. It’s a great club, a good environment, so I have really enjoyed that aspect of it.
“Everyone has been very welcoming. We have got a really tight-knit group who get on really well on and off the field which I think is really important. I have nothing but good things to say about the club. We have got a lot of really passionate supporters who we want to play for. We have got a lot of fight in us and a lot of hunger to do well.”
The 6ft 2ins, 19st 7lbs Holz is very grateful for the backing he has received during his time in Llanelli. “I had a pretty rough trot with injury before coming here and then I missed a lot of rugby with illness in my first season. It was a pretty tough time for me personally,” he admits.
“But I had a lot of good people around me who helped me through, while the Scarlets have supported me amazingly and put a lot of faith in me.
“It was made a lot easier by all the staff, all the players. From the moment I arrived, they backed me 100 per cent. It’s about trying to put in some consistent performances for them now. That’s my main goal. The set-piece is something I personally pride myself on in my game. I feel like I am playing ok at the moment. I am fairly happy with my performances.
“But I definitely feel I have got a bit more to give and places to go as my game fitness keeps building. Adding more play around the park will be important for me.”
As for life in the BKT URC, he says: “It’s definitely different. Super Rugby is very fast and focused on ball movement, whereas in the French league everything is a bit more regimented and focused on set-piece, with a lot of structure. I’ve found the URC kind of sits somewhere in the middle, especially the way the Scarlets play. We like to move the ball, we have got really good outside backs, but at the same time there’s also a focus on set-piece, which is really important for me as I am a prop that prides myself on my set-piece.
“So there’s been a good balance and I’ve really enjoyed it. In this league, you really need to be across all areas. You can’t rest on your laurels in one area and fall back in another.”
Holz’s stay in Wales has coincided with some tough times for the national side, but he believes there is hope for the future. “It’s a really hard thing for teams to stay at a high level for a long time. There are always going to be ebbs and flows,” he said. “You had such a golden generation come through and you were blessed with great talent, great results, which was awesome. That Welsh team was great to watch, no matter what nationality you were.
“Any team that has such a big turnover of talent retiring and moving on, there is always going to be a bit of time for guys to settle in. But you look at the Welsh guys in our team who are playing at that level. They are unreal players. You give them enough time and they will definitely be able to do a job at international level. There is some unbelievable talent coming through. I think people will see Welsh rugby doing well in the not too distant future.”