A child is born and grows to be a man who can dine with the greatest be an example to the world as he was great and did what few could do within a short life of forty years in which top rugby was limited by an illness that followed him. What Jonah Lomu did [...]

The Sunday Times Sri Lanka

The end of two legendary tales that rocked the Rugby world

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A child is born and grows to be a man who can dine with the greatest be an example to the world as he was great and did what few could do within a short life of forty years in which top rugby was limited by an illness that followed him.

What Jonah Lomu did for rugby and to the sport will live on even though he may be there no more. Lomu is provided to be in a band of a few who shifted the paradigm of sport.

They include Mohamed Ali, Michael Jordon, Tiger Woods and Usain Bolt. All these persons has raised the bar in sport.

“The legacy of heroes is the memory of a great name and the inheritance of a great example.” — Benjamin Disraeli.
Lomu the ‘rugby great’ lived these words as he made a name and became a great example on, off and around rugby.

He was a name and a much revered personality in his home town — Auckland. Steven Hargreaves, the principal of Wesley College which was Lomu’s high school, speaking on receiving the news of Lomu passing away said; “When I heard it was like getting a punch in the stomach, it has really taken the wind out of the sails of the whole school.

The principal called a special assembly and the school chaplain announced Lomu’s passing. Lomu has been a huge inspiration for our students.

Today we get students enrolling because they want to be the next Jonah Lomu and Wesley College and Jonah Lomu are tied together”.

“All the kids know Jonah came from very humble roots. And we all know the heights he reached and he is an inspiration to them that maybe a future like that is possible for them too, no matter where they come from.”

Rugby people around the world are united in their grief for Lomu, a man who changed the game like nobody else. It is just not New Zealand or his home town folk it is a whole rugby world that mourns.

There are 17, who scored more tries and there are others, who won more international caps. But Lomu is remembered as he transformed the game.

His performance in the 1995 World Cup, when barely 20-years-old, brought professionalism to rugby faster than it expected. Despite a great performance the All Blacks failed to win the final.

ESPN reported: “There was huge speculation about Lomu defecting to rugby league for a vast sum of money, but rugby union quickly turned professional after the 1995 World Cup and Lomu became the game’s first millionaire.

In the 1999 World Cup he scored a further eight tries but again New Zealand failed to win the tournament”. Lomu, one of the greatest, could not get his hands on the World Cup as illness forced this gentle giant out of the game when he was 26-years-old.

He was a light that beamed on rugby from the1995 World Cup and thereafter. Memorable and the much talked of try was the 1995 World Cup where within four minutes Lomu gathered a bouncing ball 30 metres out, handed off and rounded Tony Underwood, outpaced Carling’s desperate tap-tackle which left Lomu staggering and ran straight over Mike Catt, England’s last line of defence.

It was a 120kg, momentum that steamrolled Catt who probably would have been reminded by Newton’s second law that force is the product of mass times acceleration.

Barley 24 hours after the death of a great man rugby All Black legend Ritchie McCaw announced his retirement from the game.

Ritchie not only lifted the World Cup in 2011 but made history by lifting it a second time. He was a great player and an excellent leader.

With questions raised whether it was the right time to make the announcement McCaw playing tribute to the late legend said “First of all, it was a big shock as well all know; my thoughts and condolences go out to his wife and two young boys and family.

I was thinking about my experiences with Jonah. When I first became an All Black he was in the team. To play alongside a guy you have watched as a young fella was pretty amazing.”

The flanker was included in New Zealand’s tour of Britain and Ireland that year, where he witnessed just how loved Lomu was around the world.

“We got to a training ground and there were hundreds of people in Ireland. I climbed off the bus and the whole mob came at me and I thought, ‘this is pretty cool to be an All Black’.

And they kept running past and behind me was Jonah … that was the man they were after. That really hit home to me about the superstar he was.”

“So I just wanted to take a moment to express my condolences. He was a legend of the game, I think (he was) bigger overseas than he is here in New Zealand.

There are a lot of people around the world that will be hurting at the loss of a great man and a great All Black.” Now you understand how great Lomu is when we know who Ritchie is.

* Vimal Perera is a former player, coach, referee and an IRB Accredited Referees’ Educator

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