Newspaper's tribute to Jonah Lomu goes global

The front page of the Irish Examiner. Photo / Twitter

A striking tribute to Jonah Lomu on the cover of an Irish newspaper has gone global.

The front page of yesterday's Irish Examiner was all black, with a picture of a silver fern with one leaf falling to the ground.

The only words were a simple: "Jonah Lomu 1975-2015."

The page has been liked and shared thousands of times on social media and the newspaper's editor Tim Vaughan said that was down to Lomu's global popularity.

"It's a fantastic image, but I think it's because of the regard in which Jonah Lomu is held. That's why it's getting the reaction it did. He was loved all over the world," Vaughan told Radio New Zealand today.

"I wanted to mark Jonah Lomu's tragic passing in a significant way.

"I was looking for a front-page image that would do justice to such an iconic figure."

The image was created by the newspaper's advertising agency and was originally intended for a rugby promotion.

But Vaughan saw it and knew he wanted it for the front.

"It captures what I wanted. It was respectful, sincere, poignant".

Although Lomu wasn't Irish, Vaughan said All Black great was a global figure whose passing was big news on the other side of the world.

"There was a massive reaction to his death in Ireland. People were talking like the death of somebody that they knew. It was really one of those moments that takes you back," Vaughan told Radio New Zealand.

He expected some reaction to the paper's front page, but had no idea it would be so "massive".