Jonah Lomu - Rest in Peace

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buffnut453

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Jul 25, 2007
Cambridgeshire, England
Heard the shocking news today that Jonah Lomu, former left winger for New Zealand All Blacks rugby team, has died at the age of 40. Lomu was a powerhouse on the field - 6ft 5in tall and weighing over 260lbs but he played on the WING, a position requiring speed and agility. He truly brought the game of rugby alive, drawing in crowds and admirers from all over the world. I hated seeing him score against England (he scored more tries against us than any other nation) but he was an amazing talent. Gone far, FAR too young!

And here he was in his element:

 
I just heard about this on the news this morning. Genuinely saddened, the worldwide Rugby community has lost on of its greats and New Zealand has lost one of its most remarkable All Blacks.
I will never forget Lomu literally running over England's Mike Catt, himself no mean player, to score against us in '95.
Steve
 
A very sad loss, no greater male sportsman in his generation and a great gentleman off the field too. Thanks for the memories Jonah.
 
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Just to add another statistic - apparently, he could run the 100m in 10.6 secs. Simply an astounding athlete and, as pbehn notes, a gentle gentleman off the field and a great ambassador for the game of rugby. Many so-called "stars" (sporting and otherwise) would be wise to take a few leaves out of Jonah's playbook.
 
He wasn't just big and quick, very quick, he was a clever player too. He could often make space for himself, not just by brute force. He could do the other basics well too, you certainly wouldn't want to be tackled by him!

There's a few of his best moments in this video. Those men bouncing off him are professional rugby players, at least they got up to fight again, any of us would have left that field on a stretcher

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FkJ1Wp9iko

Here flattening Mike Tindall and Ben Cohen, both pretty chunky individuals themselves:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqZNhm_XBAE

I imagine New Zealand will be in mourning, and so she should be.

Cheers

Steve
 
There was a guy on the radio today who was a organiser trying to raise money by a swimming event to raise money and profile for a charity raising money to cure a children's condition/disease. Jonah listened to him asked again how many children were affected and then said "what can I do"? Within 48 hours all was arranged, and a lot of money raised. For those who like rugby you dont need to be told how great he was, for those who dont, whatever sport you follow he was equal to its greatest star. I find it difficult to believe such a man mountain was born a long time after I was and died while I dont feel old. A brilliant comet of sport.
 
Thanks pbehn. I hadn't heard that story. Living in the US, Jonah Lomu is virtually unknown (alas). I thought the comments on his passing by many of the England players who were in the 1995 World Cup squad were interesting. Every one of them admired, respected and liked him, not just for his incredible talent on the field but equally for his gentleness, humanity and down-to-earth lifestyle off it. He seemed totally unfazed by his fame and genuinely tried to use it to better the lives of others rather than feathering his own nest. I know I'm going on a bit about Jonah Lomu but, truly, his kind are rare these days. How I wish we had more like him.
 
This story, from Sir Clive Woodward, made me smile. It helps if you know who Austin Healey is!

One of my favourite stories of Jonah was the night before a game I used to list the two teams, and I said in a team meeting: "There's absolutely nobody I'd swap man for man". I was doing my motivational talk. I got to the end and Will Greenwood put his hand up and said: "Clive, we're all with you, but on behalf of all the team, I think we'd swap Austin Healey for Jonah Lomu".

Cheers

Steve
 
Yeah...heard that one. I also liked this story from former All Black player Ant Strachan who recalled that Lomu would often say a small prayer before a match to the effect that "he didn't want to hurt anyone in terms of any significant injury". Lomu certainly had hurt a few players, Strachan conceded, "but there was no malice in it."
 

That's awesome!
 
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