70 Facts About Jonah Lomu

Jonah Tali Lomu was a New Zealand rugby union player.

Jonah Lomu became the youngest ever All Black when he played his first international in 1994 at the age of 19 years and 45 days.

Jonah Lomu is regarded as the first true global superstar of rugby and consequently had a huge impact on the game.

Jonah Lomu was inducted into the International Rugby Hall of Fame on 9 October 2007, and the IRB Hall of Fame on 24 October 2011.

Jonah Lomu was widely acknowledged as the top player at the 1995 World Cup in South Africa even though New Zealand lost the final to the host South Africa.

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Jonah Lomu played for several domestic New Zealand provincial or Super Rugby sides, and late in his career played club rugby in both Wales and France.

Jonah Lomu was diagnosed with nephrotic syndrome, a serious kidney disorder in 1995, and the disease had a significant impact on his playing career and wider life.

Jonah Lomu then attempted a comeback but did not play international rugby again, and retired from professional rugby in 2007.

Jonah Lomu was born in Pukekohe, Auckland on 12 May 1975 to Tongan parents.

Jonah Lomu spent some of his early childhood in Tonga with his aunt Longo and uncle Mosese, and lived in the Auckland suburb of Mangere.

Jonah Lomu represented New Zealand in the national under-19 side in 1993, as well as the under-21 side the following year.

Jonah Lomu first came to international attention at the 1994 Hong Kong Sevens tournament as part of a team including Rush.

At the age of 19 years and 45 days, Jonah Lomu became the youngest All Black test player as he debuted on the wing against France in 1994, breaking a record that had been held by Edgar Wrigley since 1905.

Jonah Lomu marked Emile N'tamack and admits that his inexperience led to him being exposed by the French team.

Jonah Lomu scored seven tries in five matches, two in the first match against Ireland in Johannesburg, a try in the quarter final against Scotland at Loftus Versfeld, and four tries in the semi-final against England at Newlands.

The first try in the English match occurred after Jonah Lomu received a pass behind him, beat two defenders and then, after a stumble, ran straight over the top of Mike Catt.

Jonah Lomu scored two tries in the All Blacks victory over Italy in Bologna.

Jonah Lomu played against France in Toulouse, where New Zealand failed to score any tries.

Jonah Lomu scored a try in the second test in Paris, helping his team to victory.

Jonah Lomu played for the All Blacks in matches against the touring Samoa and Scotland teams in June 1996, scoring in one of the Scottish matches.

Jonah Lomu played in the two warm up matches, scoring tries against Wales 'A' and Emerging England.

Jonah Lomu played the first test against England at Old Trafford, as well as the test against Wales at Wembley Stadium, and the second match against England—he did not score in any of the three games.

Jonah Lomu came on as a replacement in every game of the 1999 Tri Nations Series with Christian Cullen and Tana Umaga preferred as starters on the wings.

Jonah Lomu started 2000 with big victories over Tonga and Scotland.

Jonah Lomu was part of the New Zealand Sevens team that won the 2001 Sevens World Cup, filling in for Rush, who suffered a broken leg during the competition.

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Jonah Lomu played his debut match against Northern United scoring twice and attracting a bumper crowd and followed that up with a further appearance in 2001.

Jonah Lomu wore the green and black club socks when he played for the Barbarian FC in 2000.

Jonah Lomu was a central figure in the 40 to 29 win, setting up Aaron Mauger for his debut try, and taking an inside pass to blast through for one of his own.

Jonah Lomu put the All Blacks in front with a try after Argentina took an early lead.

Jonah Lomu was again injected into play from the bench in the first of a two test series against Ireland in New Zealand; helping New Zealand to an uninspiring win.

Jonah Lomu did not score in the subsequent match against Fiji; in performance that was labelled "disappointing" by Matthew Cooper after he was beaten on the outside for Fiji's first try.

Jonah Lomu came off the bench in the All Blacks first game of the 2002 Tri Nations Series against South Africa, though he did not play in the rest of the tournament.

Jonah Lomu returned to the wing for a game against England in November 2002.

Jonah Lomu first needed special clearance from the World Anti-Doping Agency, as one of the anti-rejection drugs he was required to take is on the WADA list of banned substances.

Jonah Lomu ended up missing the first season when he injured his shoulder scoring a try in a preseason testimonial match against Martin Johnson's invitational XV.

Jonah Lomu made his first appearance in a competitive match since his transplant on 10 December 2005, with a 60-minute effort in Cardiff's away Heineken Cup fixture against Italian club Calvisano.

Jonah Lomu spent the early part of 2006 sidelined while he concentrated on gaining speed and strength not playing again until April.

Jonah Lomu broke his ankle near the end of his first game back, ending his season with Cardiff.

Jonah Lomu returned to North Harbour for the 2006 NPC season, playing for Massey against Marist in the North Harbour club competition.

For Jonah Lomu it was "a small step" towards his aim of reclaiming his All Blacks jersey for the 2007 World Cup.

Jonah Lomu stated that he was disappointed by his failure to gain a Super 14 contract, but that he had not failed himself.

Jonah Lomu was offered a contract with the Gold Coast Titans, a new Queensland franchise in the National Rugby League competition, but turned it down as it would have been difficult to reconcile his sponsorship contracts with companies associated with rugby union.

Jonah Lomu retired from professional rugby in 2007, but still took part in some charity matches.

Jonah Lomu was going to play in the Help For Heroes charity match at Twickenham in 2008, but had to withdraw after injuring his ankle in training.

Later that year Jonah Lomu played in a charity match at Aberavon RFC's Talbot Athletic grounds to raise money for a local children's charity.

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Jonah Lomu started the match at centre then moved to number 8, the position he played as a youngster in New Zealand.

Jonah Lomu made an attempt to take part in a charity boxing event in New Zealand called "Fight for Life" 2011, for which he was the intended captain of the rugby union team.

Jonah Lomu scored tries against every major test playing nation in World Rugby except South Africa and Wales.

Jonah Lomu set a record of 15 tries in World Cup tournaments, which was equalled by South African Bryan Habana in 2015.

Jonah Lomu had a unique combination of power, size and speed that made him devastating with the ball in hand.

Jonah Lomu ran with a low centre of gravity and was the best exponent at bumping off attempted tackles in the game.

Jonah Lomu generally stayed out on his wing, but would occasionally replace Zinzan Brooke at the back of the scrum if the All Blacks wanted more power.

In 1996, Jonah Lomu married South African Tanya Rutter and they lived together in New Zealand for four years before divorcing, of which his family never approved.

Jonah Lomu married his second wife Fiona in a secret ceremony on Waiheke Island in August 2003, holding a party on the island a week later.

Jonah Lomu was a member of the Champions for Peace club, a group of 54 famous elite athletes committed to serving peace in the world through sport, created by Peace and Sport, a Monaco-based international organisation.

On 9 April 2007, Jonah Lomu appeared on New Zealand's version of This Is Your Life, in which he was reunited with long time friend Grant Kereama, who had donated a kidney to Jonah Lomu when he underwent a kidney transplant in July 2004.

Jonah Lomu was a subject of the British version of This Is Your Life in 2002 when he was surprised by Michael Aspel while touring with the All Blacks in Edinburgh.

Jonah Lomu was the director and a shareholder in Global 11 Travel, which was liquidated in 1999.

Jonah Lomu had sold some of his properties a decade prior, including his Maupuia mansion bought in 2000, which sold three years later for a reported $1.

In May 2003, the NZRFU announced that Jonah Lomu had been put on dialysis three times a week due to deterioration in his kidney function.

Jonah Lomu underwent a kidney transplant on 28 July 2004 in Auckland, New Zealand.

Jonah Lomu had been receiving dialysis treatments during his visit to the UK where he was involved in heavy promotional work during the 2015 Rugby World Cup.

Jonah Lomu was the first truly massive wing, a trend that has now become standard in many teams.

Jonah Lomu has been described as the first true global superstar of rugby union and as having a huge impact on the game, with comparisons being drawn with Muhammad Ali, Don Bradman and Tiger Woods.

On his game-changing ability, fellow rugby player Kenny Logan stated, "you could talk about Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo, that's what Jonah Lomu was, someone who could change games if you gave him the ball wherever he was".

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Jonah Lomu was inducted into the International Rugby Hall of Fame on 9 October 2007, and the IRB Hall of Fame on 24 October 2011.

Jonah Lomu was appointed as a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to rugby, in the 2007 Queen's Birthday Honours.

Jonah Lomu is portrayed by Isaac Fe'aunati in Invictus, a film chronicling Nelson Mandela's journey with the South African rugby team in the 1995 World Cup.

In March 2018, Jonah Lomu Drive, in the Paerata Rise development north of Pukekohe, was named in his honour.

The game was organised by a local rugby fanatic, Stuart Broad, as a means to thank Jonah Lomu for having turned out to play for Aberavon Naval RFC 10 years previously.