International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach honours Jonah Lomu, laments he won’t see Olympics

Rugby Union fans are shocked after the sudden death of former New Zealand All Blacks left-winger Jonah Lomu.

“South Africa were the only team to contain him but they still struggled to do that”.

Lomu, who was just 40, had suffered from a rare kidney disease called nephrotic disease, which prompted his early retirement from rugby in 2002.

“Through Jonah these memories and these learnings will live on through me and I pass them on through my Munster time and to players coming through”.

A player Lomu formed a special bond with in recent times is former Bok scrumhalf Joost van der Westhuizen, himself now confined to a wheelchair as he battles with a form of Motor Neurone Disease (MND).

Lomu’s global reach was highlighted by the wide-ranging number of stars who took to Twitter to honor his memory.

He was the face of rugby union and while the game went professional after the 1995 World Cup, Lomu was already there. He played like he had a force-field around him.

“It’s incredibly sad that Jonah has passed away”, said Braid.

Overall it wasn’t even as if England played that badly – Will Carling and I scored two tries apiece in the second half – but the truth is we had been thumped in the first 20 minutes.

Jonah Lomu has been honoured by sport’s most powerful man with worldwide Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach lamenting the rugby great won’t be able to witness the sport’s return to the Olympics next year.

He was at his best at the 1995 and 1999 World Cups, terrifying defensive lines with his speed and size – 192 cm tall (6 feet 4 inches) and weighing about 119 kilograms (18 stone 10 pounds).

Mayhew told TVNZ’s One News: “Jonah has been in pretty good shape, he arrived back from Dubai yesterday and unfortunately suddenly collapsed and died at home this morning”.

“But in all seriousness, I’m just really, really sad for rugby today because he was one of the all time greats”.

After news of his death broke, former New Zealand captain Sean Fitzpatrick tweeted: “Our thoughts are with the Jonah Lomu family tonight”. A year later, he made his mark on the World Cup stage by scoring seven tries in five games, including four in a famous victory over England. 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”.