Jonah Lomu

Jonah Lomu , spelt J-O-N-A-H L-O-M-U , is probably the most famous rugby player in the world. He was born in Auckland on 12th May 1975 to parents of Tongan descent. He was a big lad and, as most boys in New Zealand, played rugby at school where he very quickly made it clear to everyone that he was a little bit special.

Now, for those of you who don't know much about rugby, I'll tell you just a couple of things you should know. A rugby team consists of 15 players, of which there are the 'forwards' and the 'backs'. The forwards are the big guys, the ones that do the pushing and shoving, and are usually the slowest in the team. The backs are the smaller guys who are very quick and do most of the running with the ball. Now, Jonah Lomu is 1.96m tall and weighs 120 kilos, or if you prefer 6 feet 5 inches and 19 stone. So you'd expect him to play with the forwards, yes? Wrong! Jonah Lomu plays with the backs on the wing, the position often reserved for the really small but fast man. ( Not that Jonah is slow - he runs the 100m in less than 11 seconds).

So picture the scene at the start of the 1995 World Cup tournament, held in South Africa. New Zealand, already one of the most feared teams in the world, turn up with a giant on the wing. He set the tournament alight and scored a total of 7 tries, 4 of which were in the semi final against a shocked England side. The English captain famously said "He's a freak. The sooner he goes away the better." Being so big and so fast, once he got going he was almost impossible to stop - he just ran over people. Imagine the terror of the poor defenders who had Jonah coming at them at top speed. Getting in his way could result in serious injury.

So the sport had been turned upside down and the very mention of Lomu would send shivers down defenders spines. However, at the end of the following year he was diagnosed with a serious kidney disease and had to stop playing. Rugby fans around the world were hugely disappointed as his breathtaking performances had become the main attraction of any match he was involved in.

However, he made a reasonably quick recovery and was back to his best for the 1999 World Cup in England and Wales. He scored eight tries in six matches and trampled defences as he had done four years previously. His superstar status was confirmed. He enjoyed another couple of years but his form wasn't particularly consistent and eventually tests confirmed that his kidney disease had got worse. He immediately stopped playing and underwent intensive treatment for this life-threatening illness. In fact, the situation got so bad that he was told that unless he had a transplant he would face the rest of his life in a wheelchair. Fortunately a donor was found and in July 2004 he had the operation in Auckland.

Amazingly in 2006 he continued his playing career in Wales with the Cardiff Blues, although bad lucked seemed to haunt him as first he injured his shoulder and then broke his ankle, cutting short his experience with the Welsh side. He is currently training hard and has stated his intention to once again play for his country in the 2007 World Cup - in the words of the ex England captain, "Will this 'freak' ever go away"?