KEITH WOOD DIDN’T have a bad seat when Jonah Lomu introduced himself to the world in 1995.
The All Blacks winger defined that World Cup two decades ago, scoring two tries as New Zealand ran out 43-19 winners against Ireland in Johannesburg.
Keith Wood was on the bench that day and had kept in contact with Lomu through the years.
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“Almost heartbroken actually is the phrase that comes into it,” Wood told Newstalk’s Richie McCormack this morning. “I knew Jonah pretty well. I played against him a couple of times, got to meet him a lot over the years. Sat on the bench in that game in 95 when he steam-rolled Ireland long before he stream-rolled England.
“It’s just awful news. 40 years of age. He’s been fighting manfully the kidney complaint for 13 or 14 years and it’s been very, very tough for him. Absolutely gutted I have to say, a lovely guy. I’d been in contact with him over the World Cup and it’s too sad and too soon.”
Though the hosts ultimately won that ’95 tournament, Lomu took the game to a new level, according to Wood.
“He’d been capped the previous year the same as myself,” he says. “I was a couple of years older than Jonah. I remember sitting on the bench and watching this devastating display of skill, speed and power. And Paul Burke, the Ireland sub out half, famously there was an injury in the backs and saying ‘I’m not going on, I’m not going on.’
“It was a bit of a joke for the fact that this guy was just destroying the game. He absolutely catapulted the game onto the world stage.
“There was a couple of great lines after that from his own humility. He was so extraordinary in that World Cup yet he said ‘yeah, it was great to part of something great with South Africa winning the World Cup on their own turf.’ And it was an amazing sense of humility in that here was this huge star on the world stage but he recognised he was part of something bigger.
“They recognised his pace could be better used on the wing but he was a bit of a wild card pick for that World Cup in ’95 and suddenly he got his change. It was like the game was right for him at that stage. I just think it’s terribly sad news this morning.”
'Heartbroken is the phrase' - Keith Wood reacts to sad Jonah Lomu news
KEITH WOOD DIDN’T have a bad seat when Jonah Lomu introduced himself to the world in 1995.
The All Blacks winger defined that World Cup two decades ago, scoring two tries as New Zealand ran out 43-19 winners against Ireland in Johannesburg.
Keith Wood was on the bench that day and had kept in contact with Lomu through the years.
“Almost heartbroken actually is the phrase that comes into it,” Wood told Newstalk’s Richie McCormack this morning. “I knew Jonah pretty well. I played against him a couple of times, got to meet him a lot over the years. Sat on the bench in that game in 95 when he steam-rolled Ireland long before he stream-rolled England.
“It’s just awful news. 40 years of age. He’s been fighting manfully the kidney complaint for 13 or 14 years and it’s been very, very tough for him. Absolutely gutted I have to say, a lovely guy. I’d been in contact with him over the World Cup and it’s too sad and too soon.”
Though the hosts ultimately won that ’95 tournament, Lomu took the game to a new level, according to Wood.
“He’d been capped the previous year the same as myself,” he says. “I was a couple of years older than Jonah. I remember sitting on the bench and watching this devastating display of skill, speed and power. And Paul Burke, the Ireland sub out half, famously there was an injury in the backs and saying ‘I’m not going on, I’m not going on.’
“It was a bit of a joke for the fact that this guy was just destroying the game. He absolutely catapulted the game onto the world stage.
“There was a couple of great lines after that from his own humility. He was so extraordinary in that World Cup yet he said ‘yeah, it was great to part of something great with South Africa winning the World Cup on their own turf.’ And it was an amazing sense of humility in that here was this huge star on the world stage but he recognised he was part of something bigger.
“They recognised his pace could be better used on the wing but he was a bit of a wild card pick for that World Cup in ’95 and suddenly he got his change. It was like the game was right for him at that stage. I just think it’s terribly sad news this morning.”
‘So, so devastated’ – rugby world mourns legend Lomu
Jonah Lomu, a rugby ‘freak’ sadly cut short in his prime
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