Lomu role model for pupils

Tauranga Boys' College 1st XV captain Nick Wilson described Lomu as a "once-in-a-lifetime player". Photo / Andrew Warner

Tauranga Boys' College 1st XV captain Nick Wilson was at home on study leave when a news story about Jonah Lomu's death popped up on his Facebook newsfeed.

Like most Kiwis the 17-year-old "didn't actually believe it" before the tragic news was confirmed.

"I thought, 'no, this can't be right, he's only young'," he said.

The young player's first memory of Lomu was as a child getting out of bed when he heard his father shouting at a game of rugby on television. He burst into the room in time to see "this big, burly number 11 crossing the try line," he said.

While people compared current All Black winger Julian Savea, who scored a Jonah-like try against the French during the Rugby World Cup, to the rugby legend, Nick said Lomu was a once in a lifetime player, whose combination of height, size and speed changed rugby forever.

"He just blew it all open and changed the face of rugby," he said.

Lomu was a Kiwi icon, a role model to young players and Nick admired what he had achieved after a tough upbringing.

"He was known to Counties Manukau police as some little street kid and they advised him this isn't the way you want to go."

He went on to be an ambassador for the game, "working with young kids to unlock their potential," he said.

He was particularly admired by Nick's Tongan teammates at Tauranga Boys' and the Polynesian rugby community in general.

Nick was surprised at the scope of tributes flowing on to social media from the likes of actor Morgan Freeman and rapper The Game.

It was Lomu's stature as a player that made him so special, Nick said.

"People really respected him as a player. What he could do, where he'd come from and how hard he had to work to get there."

Nick said New Zealand losing Lomu so soon after Jerry Collins - both young fathers and good men - had come as a huge blow.

"It's been a bad year for losing good players and you just can't replace them."

Otumoetai College 1st XV captain Jack May said Lomu was looked up to by lots of Kiwis.

"Obviously it's sad to lose another icon of the game after the loss of Jerry Collins this year as well," he said.

While he and his team mates were only young when Lomu rose to rugby super-stardom, he was a legend of the game still talked about by schoolboys, he said.

"He wasn't from the flashest of upbringings and he still managed to become a world icon of the game."

News of Lomu's passing had come as a shock to him and his team mates who were finishing exams. "I see my news feed on Facebook is just filled with tributes to him."

Meanwhile, Samoan-born Steamers' prop Pingi Tala'apitaga, said the Polynesian community had lost a true inspiration. "Everyone respected and revered him. I really looked up to the way he played and the way he acted off the field."

Young Polynesian's looked at him and thought, "if he can do it, why not us," he said.