“There are sports people around the world that transcend the game like Michael Jordan did in basketball which is what Jonah did in rugby”, Panoho said.
Advertisement
New Zealand rugby star Jonah Lomu (second right) plays against Fiji during the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
The official cause of his death has not yet been confirmed.
Then came that semi-final against England at Newlands.
And on social media, victorious World Cup-winning All Blacks captain Richie McCaw paid tribute to his former teammate last evening.
Asked about his favorite memories of Lomu, Tew said: “Anybody of my generation will remember a World Cup game where he ran over a couple of guys in white shirts”, referring to the hapless 1995 England team. It was [former All Blacks coach] Laurie Mains who chose to play him on the wing.
That effort was recently voted the greatest try in the tournament’s history.
Sean Fitzpatrick told Newstalk ZB this morning Lomu wasn’t originally part of the team plan at the cup, but an injury to Eric Rush gave him his chance.
“I’ll try make it up there like him…” He scored seven tries in five matches, including the four over England. With speed, lots and lots of speed.
Lomu remained one of the world’s most recognised and adored rugby players even 13 years after his retirement. That’s how strong he was.
As soon as news broke of Lomu’s death, tributes began pouring in for the player who scored eight tries in the 1999 Rugby World Cup, including from the San Francisco 49ers Australian running back Jarryd Hayne, who used to play professional rugby. What a tragedy it was that his career would be cut short by his medical problems. He underwent a kidney transplant in 2004. Lomu tried making a comeback after a 2004 transplant but was forced to abandon hopes of playing the 2007 World Cup. Friends and fellow journalists describe him at one function as “affable”, “pure gold” and “lovely” and, generally, in good health. Why pay four porters to do a job when one man can do it himself? We were well aware of him before the game but we were not expecting him to wreak so much havoc and chaos on us. Just days before his death on Wednesday, he was tweeting photos of a recent trip he took to Dubai. He looked happy; he always did.
“Jonah was one of Auckland’s greatest sons”.
Advertisement
Former All Blacks coach Sir Graham Henry, who coached Lomu in the champion Blues sides of 1996 and 1997, recalls his impact during the formative years of professional rugby. Not that many years ago, Jonah Lomu was in town, and I heard a kid yelling “Ooh, Jonah Lomu, Jonah Lomu” and cherishing the moment he had with an idol who’d finished playing rugby long before the kid was born.
