... has been described as "arguably [Rugby Union's] greatest ever player." He was born in Auckland in 1975, his parents having emigrated to New Zealand from Tonga. He had a tough childhood, and was known to the police before he was a teenager, but his life was transformed when his mother was able to enrol him in Wesley College – a bastion of Methodist education and New Zealand schools rugby. He first came to international attention at the 1994 Hong Kong Sevens tournament, and in the same year he became the youngest ever All Black when he made his fifteen–a–side debut at the age of 19 years and 45 days. When the 1995 Rugby World Cup began in South Africa just under twelve months later he'd still only won two caps, and was regarded as a bold selection; but he would be widely regarded as the star of that tournament, scoring a total of seven tries in five matches. In the final, the All Blacks (several of them allegedly suffering from a bout of food poisoning) were kept in check by the hosts and no tries were scored by either side. Lomu went on a devastating late run, beating several defenders, but was halted close to the line by a despairing tackle from Springbok scrum–half Joost van der Westhuizen. The match ended in a 15–12 victory for South Africa; the two sides between them scored six penalties and three drop goals.
Jonah Lomu was a giant of a man – 6ft 5in tall, and weighing close to 19 stone in his prime. He also had the pace of a sprinter, having run the 100 metres in less than 11 seconds. But even in his teens he had suffered from a debilitating kidney disorder, and always had to retire to his bed after games.
His performance in the 1995 World Cup established him as rugby's biggest draw, and its talisman, just as the game was turning professional. But the kidney disorder soon began to have more and more impact on both his playing career and his wider life. In 1996 it was finally diagnosed as nephrotic syndrome (a collection of symptoms caused by kidney damage). By 2003 he was on dialysis, and in 2004 he underwent a kidney transplant. He then attempted a comeback, but he retired from professional rugby in 2007 having not returned to the international scene. He died unexpectedly in 2015, aged just 40, from a heart attack associated with his kidney condition.
Jonah Lomu played a total of 63 Test matches for New Zealand, between 1994 and 2002, scoring 37 tries. Eight of his tries came in the 1999 World Cup, and added to the seven he scored in 1995 this makes him the joint record try–scorer in World Cups, along with with South Africa's Bryan Habana.
© Haydn Thompson 2021