Death of a giant of the rugby world

Lomu tragically passed away on Wednesday morning aged 40 after suffering from health problems due to a rare kidney disease.

In total, Lomu scored 15 World Cup tries – a benchmark equalled by South Africa’s Bryan Habana at this year’s tournament – although 1995 was the closest he came to lifting the Webb Ellis Cup.

“I wasn’t scared of him – you shouldn’t be playing rugby if you’re scared of getting hurt – but he wasn’t somebody I particularly wanted to tackle head on because the end result probably would have been worse”.

Who can forget his epic performance in the ’95 World Cup in South Africa?

“His ability to connect with global audiences and his passion for rugby saw him play a key role in supporting the game’s successful bid for a spot in its sevens format on the Olympic programme from 2016”.

“If you saw him running at you in the line it was like, ‘oh my god, here we go, this is going to be heavy”.

“I’m still in shock now realising a great friend has gone”.

Former All Blacks doctor John Mayhew said Lomu’s death was “totally unexpected”. It’s staggering, a very sad day.

He played for several domestic teams, including the Auckland Blues, Chiefs and Hurricanes, and Counties Manukau, Wellington and later North Harbour and Cardiff Blues.

Lomu was also one of the first rugby players to capitalise on his fame, lending his name to a number of business ventures, including popular video games Jonah Lomu Rugby and Rugby Challenge.

“Former England coach Sir Clive Woodward said: “[His death is] a huge loss to rugby.

“He had blistering pace, power and speed”. He was a freak of nature.

The news comes nearly three weeks after New Zealand became the first nation to clinch back-to-back World Cup titles and five months after the death of another All Black star, Jerry Collins. “The thoughts of the entire country are with his family”. “So sad, life is so cruel”.

“He made such an impact on rugby union”.

“In that transition from being an amateur sport to being professional Jonah was the man who brought people to rugby and we are all benefiting from that now”. The man who every other player feared. A very special person. “Now that we’ve been through it once, our heart goes out to the family, and that’s pretty much all I’m thinking about at the moment”.