![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/poster-fallback.png\"\/)
<\/p>\n
The former State of Origin winger made a strong impression, holding up well in defence, hitting rucks and proving damaging in attack.<\/p>\n
Indeed, Lomax\u2019s first touch came in the 66th minute when he soared high to take a Kurtley Beale up-and-under.<\/p>\n
Ten minutes later, the winger helped spark an 80m counter-attacking raid that ultimately ended with the Drua infringing and the Force scoring soon after.<\/p>\n
But despite his bright cameo, the Force couldn\u2019t nail it at the end, with playmaker Ben Donaldson missing a long-range, 47m penalty attempt in the 78th minute that would have given the visitors a late lead.<\/p>\n
Zac Lomax of the Western Force. Picture: Pita Simpson\/Getty ImagesSource: Getty Images<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we had nailed a couple of things, we could have won that game,\u201d bemoaned Force skipper Jeremy Williams, who scored a second-half try and was at the heart of their strong second-half effort.<\/p>\n
\u201cDo or die right until the end there.<\/p>\n
\u201cUnfortunately, we didn\u2019t (win it), but I\u2019m really proud of the boys and the way we prepared this week, and the performance we put on the field.\u201d<\/p>\n
While the Force nabbed a losing bonus-point for the gallant effort, the inability to build on last week\u2019s stirring win over the Queensland Reds effectively ended any ambitious hopes of working their way back into finals contention.<\/p>\n
The Force started strongly with tight-head prop Misinale Epenisa scoring early, but the home side grew the longer the first-half continued with the Drua piling on 19 straight points to take a 19-7 lead into the main break.<\/p>\n
Off the back of a strong set-piece, the Force rallied in the second half as Dylan Pietsch scored out wide, before Williams barged his way over. But Donaldson\u2019s two missed conversions proved costly.<\/p>\n
Dylan Pietsch of the Western Force. Picture: Pita Simpson\/Getty ImagesSource: Getty Images<\/p>\n
The Drua looked to have sewn the match up when Isikeli Basiyalo scored after 61 minutes, but a baffling decision to turn down a penalty soon almost proved fatal as the Force countered and hit back via loose-forward Will Harris. This time, however, Beale couldn\u2019t convert.<\/p>\n
Donaldson\u2019s missed penalty proved another coach killer for Cron and the Force, with the visitors unable to seize the moment in the final seconds despite enjoying plenty of possession.<\/p>\n
Perth fans are likely to get their first glimpse of Lomax next weekend, with the Force to host the reigning Super Rugby champions, the Crusaders, next Saturday night.<\/p>\n
The former NRL star will then have another five matches to push his name ahead of the international season.<\/p>\n
While a Test debut in July would appear ambitious, the former State of Origin flyer made a hugely impressive first cameo and looked physically strong in his first professional match this year.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s got some quality outside backs to learn from, with Pietsch featuring prominently for the Wallabies in recent years, while ex-All Blacks winger George Bridge was one of the Force\u2019s best in the two-point loss to the Drua.<\/p>\n
\u2014 NCA NewsWire<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Zac Lomax\u2019s Super Rugby debut has ended in heartache against the Drua in Fiji \u2013 but the former…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":599801,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[63,689,283767,651,292440,292445,292446,57075,3739,31736,2105,43,24270,292443,84940,10578,255397,27296,67736,44,677,292442,292439,292438,701,12061,292444,292441,292447,41,39,42,40,281300,11229,165396],"class_list":{"0":"post-599800","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-australia","9":"tag-australia-and-new-zealand","10":"tag-ben-donaldson","11":"tag-brisbane","12":"tag-coach-killer","13":"tag-counter-attacking-raid","14":"tag-debut-ends","15":"tag-dylan-pietsch","16":"tag-fiji","17":"tag-finals-contention","18":"tag-getty-images-inc","19":"tag-headlines","20":"tag-home-side","21":"tag-international-season","22":"tag-jeremy-williams","23":"tag-kurtley-beale","24":"tag-lautoka","25":"tag-melanesia","26":"tag-new-zealand-all-blacks","27":"tag-news","28":"tag-oceania","29":"tag-penalty-attempt","30":"tag-pita-simpson","31":"tag-promising-glimpses","32":"tag-queensland","33":"tag-queensland-reds","34":"tag-second-half-effort","35":"tag-second-half-try","36":"tag-tight-head-prop","37":"tag-top-news","38":"tag-top-stories","39":"tag-topnews","40":"tag-topstories","41":"tag-two-point-loss","42":"tag-western-force","43":"tag-will-harris"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/599800","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=599800"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/599800\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/599801"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=599800"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=599800"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=599800"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}