Millions watched him score when he ran over England wing Mike Catt.
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Jonah Lomu’s death was “totally unexpected”, according to family spokesman John Mayhew, who said that the former rugby star had only arrived back from the United Kingdom on Tuesday, after spending time there for the Rugby World Cup.
He played for New Zealand’s under-19 team and starred in rugby sevens before his worldwide debut in June 1994 as the youngest-ever All Black, aged 19 years, 45 days.
Former New Zealand captain Sean Fitzpatrick tweeted: “Our thoughts are with the @JONAHTALILOMU family tonight”.
And Sale Sharks player Danny Cipriani said: “Jonah Lomu and Christian Cullen are the reason I picked up a rugby ball – JL was a legend and a true inspiration who kept fighting”.
Others were quick to acknowledge the significant contribution of Lomu to the game.
At the height of his career, Lomu had the ear of Nelson Mandela, charmed Hollywood comedian Robin Williams – who wore an All Blacks cap and called him “mate” – and visited parliaments and palaces. “Jonah you will be missed”.
But Kightley said Lomu was magnanimous in the face of personal and professional setbacks, such as the All Blacks’ exit from the 1999 World Cup.
Nadene Lomu, the wife and manager of the rugby great, confirmed Lomu’s death in a statement Wednesday.
A player of his physical capabilities had never been seen prior to his emergence, with England captain Will Carling famously praising the Kiwi star as a “freak” due to his impressive physique after New Zealand swept England aside in 1995.
He retired from the game in 2007, the year he was inducted into the worldwide Rugby Hall of Fame. “I remember coming through the line and there was no one there and then all of a sudden I went ‘Where’s my legs?’ and it was you [who tackled me]”, said Lomu.
“Mate, I think you guys brought the best out of me”.
“’95 was the closest I got to the World Cup, ” Lomu added. “When he first came on the global stage he was incredible”.
Lomu was still at the top of his game in the new millennium and put Scotland to the sword in Dunedin, registering his second Test hat-trick. “When I was playing, when I found it hard, I just thought of my father and that got me through it”. “When I look at it now I understand my impact more”.
We wondered about his influence but did not have to wait long as Lomu smashed into his work with two tries in the opening test with Ireland. “He was virtually unstoppable and, in every sense of the phrase, he was a giant of rugby union”.
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They were – and so was Lomu, whose untimely death today at 40 will be an enduring shock for the sport and his global friends.
