Jonah Lomu

Jonah Lomu

Player information
Full name	Jonah Tali Lomu
birthday	May 12, 1975
place of birth	Mangere , New Zealand
date of death	18th November 2015
Place of death	Auckland , New Zealand
Nickname	Mount Lomu
society
society	Marseille Vitrolles Rugby (until 2010)
position	Outer three-quarters
Clubs as active
Years	society	Games (points)
1994-1999	Counties of Manukau	28 0(95)
1996-1998	Blues (Super 14)	22 0(65)
1999	Chiefs (Super 14)	8 0(10)
2000-2003	Wellington	21 0(65)
2000-2003	Hurricanes (Super 14)	29 0(55)
2004-2005	Cardiff Blues	10 00(5)
2006	North Harbor	3 00(0)
2009-2010	Marseille Vitrolles Rugby	3 00(0)
National team
Years	National team	Games (points)
1994-2002	New Zealand	63 (185)

Jonah Tali Lomu MNZM (born May 12, 1975 in Mangere , † November 18, 2015 in Auckland ) was a New Zealand rugby union player .

life and career

Lomu lived with his mother's sister in Tonga for the first six years of his life before returning to live with his parents. He grew up in difficult family and social circumstances.

While attending Wesley College in Paerata near Pukekohe , he was discovered by Phil Kingsley Jones, a youth coach for Counties Manukau Rugby Union, after playing for his school team. In 1991 he played for the New Zealand U-17 national team. In 1994 he moved into the international spotlight at the Hong Kong Sevens tournament. He was nominated for two international matches against France in June and July 1995 and, at the age of 19, became the youngest team member of all time with the All Blacks . He received an offer from the rugby league team Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs , which he did not accept. He was used from then on in the position of the outer three-quarters. He caused a sensation with his style and, above all, his superior speed. At his best, he ran the 100 m in 10.8 seconds despite a body weight of around 125 kg and 1.96 meters tall, and was thus able to often break through the opposing lines of defense. His use in the game against England in the 1995 World Cup was voted the best game ever. After the 1995 World Cup, he received contract offers from the National Football League in the United States , which he turned down. He became the first rugby union superstar.

In his professional time he played 63 times for the All Blacks, scoring a total of 185 points in 37 attempts . With 15 attempts to participate in the 1995 and 1999 World Championships , he set an unbroken record.

As early as 1994, he was diagnosed with nephrotic syndrome (a rare kidney disease) that never allowed him to fully play his class. From 1998 his illness made itself felt in the game, until he changed from a regular player to a substitute in 2001. His last game for the national team was against Wales in November 2002 . In 2003 he finally had to retire from professional sports.

After a kidney transplant in 2004, he celebrated a comeback with the ultimate goal of participating in the 2007 Rugby World Cup in France. He played in the farewell game for Martin Johnson, where he injured his shoulder in an attempt and had to be operated on. Then he played for the Cardiff Blues on a short-term contract, but broke an ankle. He then played for the New Zealand province of North Harbor in the Air New Zealand Cup , but could not assert himself there and did not receive a contract for the Super 14 from any New Zealand province . After this setback, he publicly admitted that his dream of playing at the World Cup had become unattainable. However, Lomu stated at a guest lecture on September 21, 2007 in Geneva that his goal was to play professional rugby again in 2008. In 2009 he was committed by the French third division club Marseille Vitrolles Rugby ; he received a two-year contract.

In 2011 he was the ambassador for the Rugby Union World Cup in New Zealand. At the same time, Lomus became aware of serious health problems again. Due to the body's rejection of the donated kidney, Lomu had to undergo dialysis again.

In 2015 he made a film in South Africa about the 1995 World Cup and took on numerous sponsorship commitments for the World Cup in England . He returned to New Zealand on November 17 and died early in the morning of November 18, 2015 at the age of 40 in Auckland of cardiac arrest.

On June 4, 2007, Lomu was named a member of the New Zealand Order of Merit .

In 1996 Lomu married a South African woman; the couple separated in 1998. In 2003 a second marriage followed, in 2012 a third. He left two sons from his third marriage.

After his death, the New Zealand Rugby Players Association set up a foundation to support Lomu's sons after it became apparent that Lomu's financial situation was more critical than expected. Various sources emphasized that the income from his active time was by far overestimated and not in the millions. It was also pointed out that his illness had considerably reduced his earning potential, as did the sponsorship contracts concluded at that time, which were less lucrative than today. At the same time, Lomu was portrayed as a always helpful and generous man, whose selflessness one now wants to appreciate in this form.

See also

• List of rugby union players with the most international attempts

Web links

Commons : Jonah Lomu  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Portrait and statistics on the website of the All Blacks (English)
• Official Homepage (English)
• Profile at itsrugby (French)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Jonah Lomu obituary in: The Guardian , November 19, 2015, accessed November 19, 2015
2. ^ Jonah Lomu effort against England tops poll for greatest Rugby World Cup try. In: The Guardian, August 12, 2015, accessed August 18, 2015.
3. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} Jonah Lomu was driven to excel by childhood scars in: The Daily Telegraph , November 18, 2015, accessed November 19, 2015
4. ^ Robert Kitson Jonah Lomu: a true great who transcended his sport in the mold of Muhammad Ali. In: The Guardian , November 18, 2015, accessed November 18.
5. ^ Lomu unveiled in Marseille. (No longer available online.) In: Planet Rugby. July 11, 2009, archived from the original on July 15, 2009 ; accessed on July 22, 2009 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
6. ↑ Shock, sorrow at death of All Black great Jonah Lomu. In: tvnz.co.nz. November 18, 2015, accessed November 18, 2015 . 
7. ↑ Rugby superstar: Jonah Lomu dies surprisingly at the age of 40. In: Der Spiegel , November 18, 2015, accessed on November 18, 2015.
8. ↑ All Blacks legend Jonah Lomu dies aged 40 - This is a devastating loss for our family. In: The New Zealand Herald , November 18, 2015, accessed November 18, 2015.
9. ↑ Honored New Zealanders: Queen's Birthday honors list ( English ) In: The New Zealand Herald . June 4, 2007. Retrieved June 4, 2007.
10. ↑ Jonah Lomu dies - the end for an All Blacks legend, New Zealand hero. In: i.stuff.co.nz. November 18, 2015, accessed November 18, 2015 . 
11. ↑ Jessica Elgot New Zealand players' union sets up trust fund for children of 'broke' Jonah Lomu , in: The Guardian, December 15, 2015, accessed December 16, 2015