World media: Jonah Lomu tributes continue to flow

Tributes, memories, anecdotes and analysis about Jonah Lomu continue to flow thick and fast in the world's media.

Sir Clive Woodward wrote a long piece on Lomu in the Daily Mail. The former coach recalled trying to build his players' confidence before England clashed with the All Blacks at the 1999 World Cup, only to run into a humorous incident involving the Lomu factor.

Woodward recalled telling his squad he wouldn't swap any of them for a single New Zealander. Woodward wrote: "England were the best and England were going to win. There was a bit of a murmuring and eventually Will Greenwood put his hand up. 'Clive we have had a bit of a word and, er, the consensus is that we would definitely swap Austin Healey for Jonah'.

"I still can't believe he's gone. Jonah Lomu always seemed such a force of nature and indestructible, even in retirement when he took on his debilitating kidney illness and seemingly made light of it. He looked so well on his recent trip to the World Cup where, as ever, he was received rapturously by the fans.

"It's hard to ever recall a more popular player which is a credit to his own personal charm, dignity and honesty. He was a magnificent one-off and as a rugby fan I cherish the memories of his extraordinary presence and great tries. He was so universally loved and admired that this feels like a death in the family.

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"As a global sporting icon he is right up there with the immortals because he is the only rugby union player to truly transcend the game. Pele, George Best, Ian Botham, Mark Spitz, Muhammad Ali, Seb Coe, Don Bradman, Diego Maradona, Usain Bolt, Jonah Lomu."

The Irish Examiner posted their front page on Twitter, a moving tribute to Lomu.

A tribute from our front page to the late rugby legend #JonahLomu who sadly passed away at the age of 40. #RIPJonah pic.twitter.com/DlzESqqmdG

— Irish Examiner (@irishexaminer) November 18, 2015

Oliver Holt, MailOnline: ... humility was his defining characteristic. He had strength, certainly, but it was the quiet generosity of his spirit that shone through. He was one of sport's true greats, perhaps the biggest star rugby ever had. I sat with him for an hour or so in the lobby of The Savoy a few weeks before the start of the (2015) World Cup. We ended up talking a lot about his health and particularly his reliance on dialysis. It turned out to be the last big interview he gave. He was hoping for a second kidney transplant but he knew the chances were slim. When I ventured lamely that a transplant would change his life, (Lomu's wife) Nadene spoke first. "It would change the lives of all those around him, too," she said.

It is heartbreaking to think of the two boys he doted on growing up without their father. Brayley is 6, Dhyreille is 5. Lomu told me it was his last remaining ambition to see them reach the age of 21 so that they were set on the paths of their lives.

Peter Fitzsimons, Sydney Morning Herald: I always fancied, somehow, that however much Lomu was revered in New Zealand, still we loved him more in Australia. Not just for his ability, but for his humility. He was a man who had every right to swagger, but never did. It seemed odd, and not right, that such a force of nature should suffer from a debilitating kidney disease, but he never complained of it. He just got on with it.

It seems now, downright wrong, that one such as he should die so young.

It was the Catt try, however, that remained one of rugby's most famous and significant moments. Watching the match from London, Rupert Murdoch turned to his lieutenant Sam Chisholm, and said, "I have to have that player." Murdoch's commitment to professionalising rugby was stronger than ever, and would commit US$555 million to doing exactly that.

Paul Kent, Sydney Daily Telegraph
... he changed the way everybody thought. Suddenly, we could see, here was a winger more devastating than any forward you could call upon.

Lomu was 195cm, or 6'5" in the old scale, weighed 119kg and ran 100m in even time.

Following little more than a few newsclips to prove it was true, he made the giant winger the must-have accessory to every serious rugby nation.

How hard could it be to find another?

Search parties were sent out and all of them trudged home with the same sad news. Nobody came close.

Lomu's gifts were such that they could never be manufactured in any gym. No big man was quick enough and no quick man was big enough.

Lomu made everyone seem undersized. First on the wing, then in life.

Zinzan Brooke, Telegraph: Only a handful of athletes have changed the face of a sport - Tiger Woods in golf, Michael Jordan in basketball, Pele in football. Jonah belongs in that bracket. He revolutionised rugby and transformed the way rugby was perceived and consumed. We used to say that once he got the ball and had broken past the first defender then we could safely run back to halfway even though he had another 25 metres and another six guys to run through.

Off the field, he embraced his responsibility of being a global superstar without ever letting it go to his head. He just saw himself as a cog in a bigger machine and he never once put himself as an individual before the team.

Stuart Barnes, the Times: Such was his aura that the other All Blacks left their rugby reason somewhere down in the Cape and tried to play everything through Lomu in the (1995 World Cup) final. They had the lineout and the all round skills to beat South Africa in any number of ways but Lomu's presence blinded them to sense. He was so good that Andrew Mehrtens forgot about territory and simply gave the ball to Jonah."

I saw him play his first game for the (Cardiff) Blues at the Arms Park; it was one of the saddest of my days as a rugby journalist. He was a mere shadow of the mighty man. His career petered out but after a sequence of operations and panics he appeared to have recovered his health.

Whenever there was a major rugby event, there was Jonah with his smile and his aura. The best players in the world bowed down before his legend. Now at the age of 40 he is gone. A terrible fate for a giant of such gentle charms to be brought low so prematurely but we will remember you, Jonah, the gentle giant that changed the face of rugby union forever.

Joe Ritchie, New York Times: Under the headline Blending size and speed, Jonah Lomu set new template in Rugby Ritchie wrote: "In 2000 and 2001 there was speculation that Lomu might try his luck in America as an NFL running back - as the Australian rugby league star Jarryd Hayne is attempting this season with the San Francisco 49ers. Nothing came of the rumours, though Lomu's runs were reminiscent of the play of NFL greats like Bo Jackson and Jim Brown; it would have been interesting to see how he might have adapted to the gridiron game.

"Lomu's impact on the modern game can be seen in the number of big, powerful runners who followed him - though none have reached Lomu's stature ... "