Jonah Lomu can pinpoint the exact date that his world was thrown into an uncharted orbit. On June 18, 1995, a 20-year-old Lomu scored four tries as New Zealand obliterated England in the World Cup semi-final.
The sheer brutality of their victory summed up by the winger’s first score, in which he danced past two defenders before simply running over fullback Mike Catt.
“That game changed everything for me,” Lomu says almost 20 years on, during a visit to Dubai for the UAE Rugby Annual Awards. “It basically stated who I was and what I could do on a rugby pitch.”
Indeed it did. Rugby union was on the verge of professionalism, and the sport had just found its first bone fide superstar. The problem Lomu faced, though, was that no rugby player had entered the territory he was about to inhabit.
“I played against England, scored four tries and then the next thing I knew I’ve got people all over the place trying to take photos of me and your life’s not your own. It hasn’t been since.
“But that’s part and parcel of the game going professional and when that happened it’s just, you’re illprepared for it because there was no-one that had gone before me who had done that and had gone through that.
“So, I couldn’t ask any other player because they’d never been in that position.
“I had to do a whole lot of learning quickly at a very young age, and a lot of it was trial and error.
“But I think I fared quite well, it’s been almost 20 years since I played that game and the crazy thing is things haven’t changed for me.”
What the world did not know at that time was that Lomu’s life had changed in more ways than one. The giant wing would be diagnosed with nephrotic syndrome – a serious kidney disorder – in ‘95 and admits he was feeling the effects before the World Cup.
“It was bad enough,” he says of the pain he was in. “I just asked can I damage it any more? And the doctor said ‘nah, you can’t do any more about it’.
“So I went to the tournament knowing about the illness but I was just going to have a crack at it and see what happened.
“For me I was just fortunate I was given the opportunity to play. I kept it secret, the only people that knew were me and the team doctor and that was it.”
Lomu says he took the decision to remain silent because he “didn’t want coaches and people to feel sorry for me.”
The formula certainly worked for the World Cup as Lomu would end the tournament with seven tries and a runner-up medal.
New Zealand had been expected to win the final against hosts South Africa but suddenly the tries dried up and after extra-time the Springboks emerged victorious, 15-12. Not that the tournament’s star was bitter.
“We saw something amazing in the ‘95 World Cup,” he remembers of a time that has become synonymous with the dawn of a new South Africa. “As the tournament went on we could see it growing. Francois Pienaar put it best when he said there weren’t 80,000 people there, there was 44 million supporting them. And you could definitely feel that.
“For us as All Blacks that day, we wish we had won but also at the same time we saw something greater than rugby come out of that game.
“As disappointed as you were, the one thing we always believed was that if we could do something that is more important than rugby then why not do it and we were fortunate to be part of that.”
Lomu’s health problems would eventually catch up with him, but not before he had starred at another World Cup, scoring eight tries in 1999, been a member of a victorious All Blacks tour of South Africa and claimed Commonwealth gold in sevens at the 1998 Games in Kuala Lumpar.
There were also 37 tries in 63 caps for New Zealand but does the 38-year-old ever wonder what might have been had he been fully fit during his career?
“It is frustrating because you know that you’re not 100 per cent,” he admits. “When you know that you’re not 100 but you play well, well enough that people stand up and take notice of you, it makes you wonder what would have it been like if you had have been 100.”
It is perhaps that sense of ‘what if’?’ that is currently driving Lomu as he embarks on the next chapter of his hugely successful life. The one-time prodigy has decided to use his profile to help unearth the next generation of rugby talent – and he will not be doing anything by halves.
“My wife (Nadene) and I are just knuckling down and looking at what to do and where to go next in terms of our academies that we want to grow,” Lomu says of his new venture, that will bear the name Jonah Lomu 7one5 in recognition of his achievements in both sevens and 15s rugby.
“There are opportunities out there, we are just seeing what it the best fit for us.”
He adds: “They are going to be based where we think it suits us and fits us and who we would like to align ourselves with.
“The one thing about me is when I do things like the academies it’s about being the best of the best. So you will get the best coaches bar none, and all the tutors and everything we will have there is to make you the best.”
You might even find one near you. Lomu has fond memories of playing at the Dubai Sevens in the days of sand pitches and he believes Asia is a market ripe for growth.
“It’s definitely a prime market, especially in sevens,” he says. “[With] the competitiveness of the Asian nations and the Asian market the potential (in sevens) is huge. It’s an area where I can see growth in the sport.
“It’s still pretty untouched and I think it’s an area where it can grow hugely.”
So might one of his academies be based in the UAE? “Could be,” Lomu says with a smile.
LOMU ON…
The pressure on the All Blacks…
The pressure that is put on you as an All Black player is immense. It is completely different to a lot of other teams. I don’t think you’ll find another country that is like New Zealand when it comes to rugby because the demands and expectation that is put on you is far greater than anything.
Productivity and growth in New Zealand comes to a standstill if the All Blacks lose, it’s like the country goes into mourning. But that’s just the expectation that’s put on you as All Blacks.
At the same time you could be stood in line at the supermarket and a grandma asks you why didn’t you pass the ball to that person or why didn’t you do this. It’s just our home country expects so much more from us.
The weight lifted by New Zealand winning the 2011 World Cup…
I don’t know if that’s the monkey off your back because that’s our home tournament. The last time we won it was in ‘87 at home, against the French.
I don’t think anybody will call it a monkey off your back until you win it away from home. So the pressure is on the All Blacks to win a tournament outside of New Zealand itself.
Playing in the modern era…
I definitely could, I’m not shy about that. If you want to be the best, you have to play against the best and I’m one of those guys who would back myself 100 per cent.
When people ask me if I could play in this era, I say yeah I can and I could be as dominant as when I was playing too. My standing 40 time still qualifies me to be one of the quickest on the team and I still hold bench press records too.
The importance of sevens…
I think it’s a great way to introduce people to rugby because when you want to advertise your sport you want to put the most colourful, the most exciting and the greatest experience you can have in a short package.
When you have a 15-man tournament it takes too long but a sevens tournament is done and dusted by the end of a weekend. So it’s cost-effective for the host country, while at the same time being a great way to advertise your country.
Why he hid his illness…
I wanted to earn the right to play for those teams on merit and not because they felt sorry for me. So, that’s why I kept it quiet.
But I did the treatment, came back and made the Commonwealth Games team, we won that and then it was the lead into the 1999 World Cup.It was tough, I won’t lie, it wasn’t an easy road back. It was a battle but I got there.
Best team-mate…
I have been fortunate that I have played with some great players. I played in Richie McCaw’s first Test match. He got his first scar in his first Test match as well, against Ireland. I was fortunate to play with him and against him but there’s a long list of players.
Person who helped you the most…
I can’t go past Eric Rush, the reason being if I hadn’t had a meeting with him one time I don’t think I’d have played any more rugby. So he’s definitely No1 but outside of that it would be the coaches.
They were really the ones that got me into the game, they saw the potential in me but at the same time they knew how to harness what I had and how the team could benefit.
I’ve been fortunate to make great friends and team-mates and it’s hard to say that this person was better than another when I had such great players inside and outside of me.
Toughest opponent…
A Frenchman by the name of Emile Ntamack was definitely the toughest. I had two losses against him but I learned more from those two games than any other.
