In person he is quietly spoken, but few names shout ‘Rugby World Cup’ louder than Jonah Lomu. He was, as his fellow ambassador Will Carling says, “The first guy who became a world figure, because of his performance at the 1995 World Cup.”
Carling was in a position to know. His England team was on the receiving end as Lomu reached his peak, scoring four tries – starting with one that left a series of defenders including Carling smashed aside and contemplating a future as the fall guys in pizza adverts – as the All Blacks blew them away in the 1995 semi-final. As Carling recalls: “He destroyed me.”
Those tries were among the 15 – an all-time record – that Lomu scored in World Cups. While it was 1995 that made him a hero, it could be argued that his eight tries in 1999 were the greater achievement. By then he had been diagnosed with a life-threatening kidney disease, but he was still the same irresistible force.
As a 6ft6in (198cm), 267lb (121kg) wing, Lomu revised the underlying assumptions of rugby physics. It was not previously believed you could be that big, and still fast and athletic enough to play on the wing. But size alone is not enough to make you the youngest ever All Black at 19. As one baffled marker said: “I thought I could stop him if I got close enough. And then I found that he could side-step.”
Unsurprisingly, his favourite Rugby World Cup memory is “playing in 1995, just being a part of it more than anything else.”
But he’s clear that a Rugby World Cup brings many other benefits. “It’s the friends that you make. Not just for the players, but for the fans as well. You meet the locals and it’s the intertwining of people. Nine times out of ten it it’s in a bar, maybe drinking a Heineken, just being among each other.”
He’s quietly spoken and diplomatic, not inclined to name names when asked for predictions about the tournament, instead saying: “All I know that it’s going to be an amazing World Cup and whoever wins it is going to deserve it.”
But he enthuses about the idea of England as host. “It’s the home of rugby, it’s where it was invented and it’s coming back. It’s rugby HQ for everybody,” he says. “So for anybody to win here it is the pinnacle and just means that little bit more.”
Nor does he want to tip standout players: “The Rugby World Cup is a funny thing. You may come with the form players, but they end up not being the same players. It’s different from test match rugby – you have to come with a tournament attitude and there will be some surprises.”
But the prize is on offer to everybody, to do what he did in 1995. “If you want to make a statement and get noticed in any shape or form, the Rugby World Cup is the time to do it.”
