Rumours of Lomu's death miss the mark

Jonah Lomu at the Bledisloe Cup rugby game against Australia in 2000. Photo / Getty Images

Rugby legend Jonah Lomu is alive and well, despite rumours of his death circulating around the web today.

Club officials at Marseille-Vitrolles, the French club where the former test star currently plays, confirmed to the Herald that their star winger was anything but dead.

One rumour, spread around the web via users of the Twitter website, claimed the rugby great passed away after suffering a heart attack in his car.

Another rumour concerned an unidentified old man who allegedly told visitors to Lake Rotorua of Lomu's death.

One Twitter user lamented what they thought was the loss of their rugby hero.

"All my childhood idols are dying. Steve Irwin, Edmund Hillary, Jonah Lomu, that guy from Jaws," wrote a user called Amemait.

The hoax is not the first of its kind. In April 2004 the veteran of 63 appearances for the All Blacks was forced to publish a message on his official website to dispel rumours that he had died while waiting for a kidney transplant.

He would eventually receive a new kidney, courtesy of radio host Grant Kereama, later that year.

- NZ HERALD ONLINE