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November 19, 2015

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All Blacks legend Lomu dies suddenly at age 40

MORE by instinct than choice and off balance after fending off two desperate defenders, Jonah Lomu barreled straight over the top of a crouching Mike Catt, leaving the battered England fullback sprawling on his back as the All Black sprinted to the try line.

It was the first of Lomu’s four tries in New Zealand’s 1995 Rugby World Cup semifinal win over England, a performance that confirmed his burgeoning reputation as a virtually unstoppable ball-runner with a sprinter’s pace and launched him to international fame.

He made it look like it was man against boys — after all, he was the size of a front row forward but had the speed of a sprint champion. Lomu, whose kidney illness extinguished his meteoric All Blacks career, died suddenly at his home in Auckland yesterday. He was 40.

Nadene Lomu, the wife and manager of the rugby great, confirmed Lomu’s death in a statement. Lomu had struggled with a kidney illness for 20 years but former All Blacks doctor and family friend John Mayhew said the cause of death was cardiac arrest.

“It is with great sadness that I must announce my dear husband Jonah Lomu died (overnight),” Nadene Lomu said. “This is a devastating loss for our family and may I ask that our privacy, especially the privacy of our two very young boys, be respected as we take them through this traumatic time.”

New Zealand Rugby chief executive Steve Tew said: “Jonah was a legend of our game and loved by his many fans both here and around the world.”

New Zealand Prime Minister John Key also paid tribute to an “inspiration” and “game changer”.

The son of immigrants from Tonga, humble off the pitch, was at his devastating best at the 1995 and 1999 World Cups, scoring 15 tries in 11 games but never winning the trophy.

The stabbing death of a friend steered Lomu away from street gangs in the blue-collar suburbs of Auckland, New Zealand’s largest city, where he grew up.

New direction

Rugby gave him new direction. He channeled anger he felt about his father into the sport. Aged just 19 for the first of his 63 tests, he was a physical colossus for a winger — 1.96 meters tall; 119 kilograms — and quite terrifying when pounding through defensive lines at speed.

Nephrotic syndrome, a degenerative kidney illness, curtailed his career at his peak. Lomu tried making a comeback after a 2004 transplant but was forced to abandon hopes of playing the 2007 World Cup. He played his last match in 2006.

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.

His father, Semisi Lomu, was a factory worker, devoutly religious and a harsh disciplinarian. His mother, Hepi, held together the family living on a shoestring and acted as a buffer between father and son.

“At times he was the best dad that he could be,” Lomu said in a 2013 interview. “It was just when he drank, that’s when me and him disagreed. He was quite violent when he was drunk.

“Mum was always there to protect the kids. And when Dad got angry and wanted to bash us, she would get in the way. It builds up a lot of things inside of me.”

He played for New Zealand’s under-19 team and starred in rugby sevens before his international debut in June 1994 as the youngest-ever All Black, aged 19 years, 45 days. He became a formidable scoring weapon after mastering the technique of test rugby, scoring 37 test tries.

Selected to the All Blacks squad after an injury to John Timu, Lomu burst to international fame at that 1995 World Cup in South Africa. He scored seven tries in five matches.

He is survived by Nadene, his third wife, and his sons Brayley, 6, and Dhyreille, 5. He was previously married to Tanya Rutter from 1996 to 2000 and Fiona Lomu from 2003 to 2008.




 

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