Coach reveals Lomax plan after Force 'punched in the face', Hurricanes go top of Super Rugby standings

Western Force coach Simon Cron has laid out the plan to get Zac Lomax rugby ready after his side were beaten 31-23 by the Hurricanes at Napier's McLean Park on Friday night.

The Force led 11-5 early in the second half before a star-studded Hurricanes bench swung the contest with a flurry of classy tries.

The win lifted the Hurricanes above the ACT Brumbies and into top spot on the Super Rugby Pacific standings.

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Stephen Larkham's side have the opportunity to reclaim pole position when they take on the Fijian Drua in Ba on Saturday afternoon.

The Force, meanwhile, sit 10th of 11 teams as a second half fade cost them dearly again.

The Perth club have led at halftime in their last four games but will enter the bye week with a 1-4 record.

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Cron and Lomax won't be putting their feet up though.

The pair struck up a strong rapport while discussing the possibility of a code switch and Cron knows the magnitude of the task ahead.

Lomax hasn't played rugby since he was 15 and his first opportunity to wear the Force jersey will come against the powerful Chiefs in Perth on March 28.

"He's a great man. The conversations I've had with him have been amazing," Cron said.

"Him and his partner Kayla, they're a lovely couple. He's really driven.

"He's talented. He's been wanting to play rugby the whole time. You should have seen him. He's biting at the bit to play rugby, and he feels like that's his future. So we're excited to be part of it."

So how will the Force fast-track Lomax's rugby development?

"There'll be a bit of crunch and punch," Cron said.

"There'll be a bit of ground work. He knows that's coming. A little bit of positional play but I mean, we don't have to coach him how to do a high ball and how to kick. He can run. He's powerful. We've just got to be able to give him the parts of the game he needs.

"In season, it's a little bit more challenging to learn too many positions, but definitely winger and 15 (fullback) would be the ones we target early on. Just coaching them, backfield coverage and positioning would be key."

It is unlikely Lomax will be taking Darby Lancaster's starting jersey against the Chiefs.

The one-cap Wallabies winger was a standout in Napier, scoring two tries and constantly threatening with his pace, power and footwork to keep his side in the contest.

Cam Roigard, Brad Shields, Devan Flanders, Callum Harkin and Warner Dearns were the Hurricanes' try-scorers.

"That first 20 in the second half we got punched in the face a bit," Force captain Jeremy Williams said.

"Really great reply in the end. But if only there were five more minutes. A lot of positives. It's no good being close.

"You've got to get the win. Lots of positives to take out of tonight. We've got a bye week coming up. Good chance to get away from footy. Refresh the mind, refresh the body. Get back to Perth and start ripping in."

The Hurricanes have never lost to the Force at home.

Clark Laidlaw's side flexed their depth by unleashing All Blacks Ruben Love, Tyrel Lomax and Asafo Aumua, along with Japan captain Dearns, in the second half, though Lomax's comeback was cut short by a fresh ankle injury late in the game.

The replacements made an immediate impact as the Hurricanes rallied from 8-5 down at halftime to claim their third win in four games, scoring four tries in 20 minutes.

Dearns sealed the result by charging down a kick from Force five-eighth Ben Donaldson and sprinting through to score in the 69th minute.

The Hurricanes led 31-11 at that stage but conceded two late tries to surrender a bonus point while lock Isaia Walker-Leawere was in the sin bin.

Walker-Leawere was shown a yellow card for a reckless cleanout on Darcy Swain, though the television match official ruled it did not warrant an upgrade to red.

The Force struck first when Lancaster stepped Bailyn Sullivan to score the opening try.

After earlier being denied by the bounce of the ball, Hurricanes halfback Roigard responded five minutes before halftime, selling a dummy five metres out and slicing through a gap in the defence.

The Force did a great job of suffocating the Hurricanes in the first half. With little space to attack, the hosts were forced to kick in behind.

Donaldson kicked his second penalty to stretch the Force lead to six, prompting the Hurricanes to roll on the heavy artillery.

Aumua, Lomax, Dearns and Xavier Numia entered early in the second half to join halftime replacement Love.There was an immediate lift in intensity.

Shields powered over for the go-ahead try on his 100th Super Rugby start before Hawke's Bay's Flanders added another three minutes later.

Harkin scored on the hour mark after a burst from Aumua, before Dearns charged down Donaldson's kick to seal the win.

The Force crossed twice late to avoid a heavy defeat and deny the Hurricanes a bonus point.

"It was a mixed bag. We started slowly and we know the Force up front, they have a lot of Wallabies in their pack, and it felt they got on top of us physically in the first half," Laidlaw said.

"In the second half for 25 minutes we looked really good again, we put the ball in the right end of the field and scored a couple of nice tries, then we finished poorly too. It's a weird feeling. It feels like we've lost a game."

The Hurricanes will now travel to Dunedin to take on the Highlanders next Friday.

- with Stuff