All Blacks wing who became one of the first worldwide stars of rugby union
Ellis Park, Johannesburg, on 24 June 1995 was the setting for the most momentous rugby union match of all time: the World Cup final between South Africa and the overwhelming favourites, New Zealand. The South African president, Nelson Mandela, being introduced to the Springboks wing James Small before the match, could not resist the obvious joke. “You have got a big job today, Mr Small.” For there, down the line, was Small’s opposite number, the gigantic All Blacks wing Jonah Lomu, who during the previous month had made larger men than the modestly proportioned Mr Small quiver.
Lomu was a wing, but he was 6ft 4in tall and 19st, the size of a lock forward, and a week earlier he had reduced Will Carling’s England side to rubble in a semi-final win in Cape Town. New Zealand had beaten England 45-29 and Lomu, barely 20 years old, had scored four tries. Lomu, who has died aged 40, caused a sensation in 1995. Rugby followers could not believe such a large man, little more than a teenager, could be so quick on his feet.
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