Rugby Legend Jonah Lomu Dies Aged 40

“Our thoughts today are first and foremost with Jonah Lomu’s family at their time of loss”. He had a bout of ill health in late 2011 when his body rejected his donor kidney and was undergoing dialysis treatment three times a week while awaiting a second transplant. “But after that game, it was a kid from South Auckland that everybody wanted to know who he was, what he did, how quick does he run the 100m, how big are his shoes, how heavy is he?”

However, he failed to adjust to the positional requirements and didn’t represent his country again until the World Cup. “But because of his magnificence and because of the time and the place, he drove rugby into a new era”, the newspaper said. “I’m totally shocked”, Australian great George Gregan said. That’s what I see when I wake up in the morning, wash my face, look in the mirror and I see my two boys.

Lomu said then that “everyone has to die sometime” and he had no regrets.

In the 1995 World Cup tournament alone, Lomu was reported to have scored a total of seven tries.

People were seen arriving at Lomu’s house to pay their respects. “The family is obviously devastated, as are friends and acquaintances”.

“He was rugby’s first genuine superstar and as well as being an extraordinary rugby player he was also an exceptional man who gave everything to the game and his community in Auckland”.

In his book, Jonah My Story, Lomu recounted his hard upbringing in South Auckland.

Latterly off-field aspects of his private life and his on-going battle with kidney disease made for a fascinating human story which meant his name was never far from the news in New Zealand and overseas.

“Jonah’s legacy will live forever in our game, and indeed all over the world”.

Rugby legend Jonah Lomu, the game’s first global superstar whose speed and power terrorised opponents, died unexpectedly on Wednesday aged 40, the player’s family and New Zealand Rugby said.

“Jonah was a big part of my family and we are all shattered by his passing”, said Jones, father of Newport Gwent Dragons head coach Kingsley Jones.

After making his debut in 1994, Lomu began his rise in sports stardom after a memorable and ground breaking performance at the 1995 Rugby World Cup Semi-final game against England in Cape Town in which he achieved an impressive 4 tries in a spectacular image of pace and power, thus immortalizing him as one of sports’ most recognizable global figures.

NZ Rugby chief executive Steve Tew said it was “an incredibly sad day” for rugby and for the All Blacks. “#MyHero #Legend” – South Africa wing JP Pietersen. In this clip Jonah is reunited with one-time rival Joost van der Westhuizen, with both men united by their struggles with illness.

Further, his presence is said to have changed rugby “forever”.