All in the family for Lucas brothers

Sun, Mar 27, 2016, 3:00 PM
Beth Newman
by Beth Newman
Tom Lucas is working his way back from knee surgery
Tom Lucas is working his way back from knee surgery

The Lucas brothers have found their way into top level Rugby in different ways, but Sevens has woven its way through all their stories.

Ben - the former Queensland Red and now Montpellier back and  Matt - in his second Super Rugby stint at the Waratahs - have both graduated from Sevens into elite 15s.

The youngest, Isaac, is set to play in a youth tournament later this year in Sydney, with a view to rising up the ranks.

Tom, the second-youngest, is a current Aussie Sevens representative contemplating a long absence from the game after a serious injury.

The 22-year-old fell awkwardly in a tackle in the recent Las Vegas Sevens, rupturing his anterior cruciate, medial and posterior cruciate ligaments and ending his shot at the Olympics.

Once it happened, Tom knew immediately this was one injury he wouldn’t be able to shake off.

“When I was lying there I thought about what happened and my knee didn’t feel like it was in the right position so I knew it couldn’t be good,” he said.

“It took a couple of days to really sink in what happened and stuff like that.

“It comes with playing rugby getting injuries like this, it’s just bad timing with such a big year coming up for the Sevens.”

His teammates depart for the Hong Kong Sevens next week and Lucas is set to begin his long-term rehabilitation.

Tom turned to teammate and former housemate Nick Malouf for advice, once the severity was confirmed.

Malouf is six months ahead of Lucas in his recovery from an ACL, with his Olympic dream still flickering.

“(Nick was) first on the telephone list and he offered his condolences and gives me support wherever he can.

“There’s not much he can do he’s well on the way to recovery, training and everything but it’s  good having someone who’s been through it all.”

Tom is taking the injury in his stride, confident he can return to his best form, albeit well after the Rio Olympics have come and gone.

“My plan at the moment is to get the knee right and get back into playing for this sevens team,” he said.

“Before it happened I was really happy with the way it’s tracking.

“Once I get back to that stage,I’ll think about longer-term stuff but right now my focus is on getting my knee right and just getting back to Rugby.”

Tom shares a house with Sevens teammate Con Foley and his brother, Matt, who said it had been tough to watch his younger sibling deal with the blow.

“It’s your family, so to see them take a blow like that ahead of something he’s really had his mind set on for a long time now and worked so hard for (is hard),” he said..

“To see that put him in the back seat a little bit it’s hard but we live with each other so at least I’m hands on and can help him out as much as I can.”

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