Lomu lifts Wallabies’ spirits
19 Oct 2011
Rugby legend Jonah Lomu’s visit to the Australian squad has given the beaten semi-finalists perspective that there are things greater than a rugby tournament.
New Zealand’s leading rugby site Rugbyheaven described the visit as such:
Jonah Lomu, the ailing All Black rugby legend who knows all about World Cup heartbreak, has risen from his sick bed to give the Wallabies a pep-talk.
The Wallabies were inconsolable after their 20-6 semifinal drubbing at the hands of the All Blacks.
But the players, struggling to lift for Friday’s third place playoff with Wales, went into a Twitter frenzy after meeting the great man today.
Standout flanker David Pocock tweeted a photo of himself and winger James O’Connor with the big man.
“Great to meet the legendary #JonahLomu. What a good bloke too,” Pocock wrote.
Pocock said Digby Ioane was especially impressed: “So good seeing how excited @digbyioane was meeting Jonah Lomu! ‘He said my name!’”
Ioane replied: “Made my day.”
Quade Cooper – the flawed Kiwi-born first five-eighth cast as the villain of the tournament and booed with every touch of the ball – took more than most from meeting Lomu.
“Big thanks to jonah for giving his time & having a chat. Theres no better person to talk to about life, rugby & expectation,” Cooper tweeted.
Lomu’s first World Cup, in 1995, made him a star but he was part of an All Blacks team that failed to grab the trophy in the final despite being heavy favourites.
Again the All Blacks were favoured to take out the 1999 tournament but fell apart in the second half of their semifinal against France. Lomu was one of the only players to emerge with credit from that match.
A Wallabies spokesman said plans for Lomu to meet up with the team had been in the pipeline for some time.
He said Robbie Deans, who was Lomu’s last backs coach for the All Blacks, kept in regular contact with Lomu and had arranged for him to come and meet the team.
He has also played against more experienced team members Nathan Sharpe and Radike Samo.
Lomu spent the morning watching the Wallabies training and then spoke with a number of players afterwards. He will also have dinner with the team tomorrow night.
”Jonah has the experience of being there, he certainly understands the disappointment (of losing in a Rugby World Cup final playoff game) and where the guys are at.
”For the Quade Coopers and the James O’Connors of the team, having the chance to chew the fat with Jonah Lomu is an amazing experience.
”[Lomu] has never lost his affinity for the team experience and he really wanted to watch the training. He was a really positive influence on the team which is amazing given what he has been through.”
The spokesman was at pains to point out that Lomu had not visited the Wallabies team in lieu of the All Blacks and said Lomu kept in regular contact with many in the All Blacks team.
It’s been nearly four weeks since Lomu was rushed to hospital for kidney failure. He told the latest edition of the New Zealand Woman’s Weekly he still wasn’t sure “how this is going to end”.
Moments after he was released from hospital 10 days ago, he was readmitted with a fever.
He was administered “a huge concoction of drugs” to stop his body rejecting the transplanted kidney he received from ZM radio announcer Grant Kereama in 2004.
The malfunctioning transplant “had a huge knock on effect on the rest of my body”, Lomu told the magazine.
He is now back out of hospital, but suffers bouts of tiredness and nausea.
He described having a constant “chalky taste” in his mouth from the drugs, some of which are taken directly through lines in his chest so that he has to sponge bath instead of shower.
He is also on dialysis four times a week.
28 Comments
19 Oct 2011, 08:28 am
The Wallabies were inconsolable after their 20-6 loss?
Really?
They were beaten by a far superior side, and were never in it.
Now, South Africa, on the other hand, have reason to be inconsolable…
19 Oct 2011, 08:30 am
Kia Kihara big guy .
Get well soon, hope you can make it to the final .
19 Oct 2011, 08:37 am
@WP Till I Die(WP-Forever)-1: Get over yourself mate. If a bloke like Lomu can put 2 knockout games behind him, I reckon you could as well. This article is less about whinging saffers, than it is about the importance of realising rugby is just a game.
respect to you Lomu.
reckon you’ve forgotten more about the game than most of us on here remember.
19 Oct 2011, 08:43 am
@TahRoo(TahRoo)-3:
Oh, I’m over it.
And where was I whinging? I just pointed out that the Springboks had more reason to be inconsolable due to the closeness of the defeat.
Self-defence mechanisms prickling up there, mate?
19 Oct 2011, 08:47 am
@WP Till I Die(WP-Forever)-4: The whinging comes from just about every saffer on this site at every opportunity.
Games gone.
we’re all in the departure area together. Hoping to see an All Blacks win akin to the ’95 WC. Reckon the place deserves some good luck after the ****** year it’s had.
Who gets to play Sir McCaw?
19 Oct 2011, 08:49 am
Lomu is imprinted on my memory forever! Without doubt the guy who had the biggest ever impact on rugby.
Hope he gets his health issues sorted. Absolute legend
19 Oct 2011, 08:51 am
@TahRoo(TahRoo)-5:
Did you happen to read the forums at Sydney Morning Herald the day after Australia lost to Ireland in the pool stages?
All nations have supporters who are passionate about their team and then vent when they feel they’ve been hard done by.
19 Oct 2011, 08:59 am
In any event – good luck, Jonah.
You left a massive impact on me during the 1995 Rugby World Cup.
Watching you at Ellis Park – a memory that will remain with me for the rest of my life.
19 Oct 2011, 09:03 am
Well done to Jona Lomu- he is in a better position than most rugby players or fans to realise that there is much more important things in live than to win or lose a rugby game.
I remember him as arguably the most feared rugby player who ever played the game , and one who was always, even at the height of his powers when he was the hottest news in rugby, an incredible humble person.
Go well Jonah- good luck big man.
19 Oct 2011, 09:27 am
Bryce F#$%% Lawrence.
19 Oct 2011, 10:24 am
Get well soon Jonah.
19 Oct 2011, 10:29 am
I believe your team lost because they were too brainless to win.
The referee had little influence on that.
19 Oct 2011, 10:34 am
@Auntie Mavis(Auntie Mavis)-12:
Thats Rubbish.
What would you have deemed more “intelligent”?? The oh so brilliant AB team scored all of ONE try through individual piece of play from Dagg.Otherwise adequate ref and correct application of breakdown laws led to Weepu kicking 4 penalties and pulling away from Oz. Weepu & Cruden also missed 4 more penalties.
Shows how much Oz were infringing and when penalised properkly they had no chance.
ONE try and 9 PENALTIES awarded.
Fact.
19 Oct 2011, 10:55 am
One thing that sticks out to me about this , is that Oz and NZ have a long rugby history and much blood has been spilt , yet even in this time , that has been out aside , and the respect for this man is so great , that i doubt they even for a single moment thought what the %$#%# is this Kiwi doing here..!
Such is the level of respect towards this man. Respect to the wallabies for this…
19 Oct 2011, 10:55 am
@WP Till I Die(WP-Forever)-4: Gotto agree with TahRoo bud , are we now gonna point out that we have more right to feel bad losing than others ?
19 Oct 2011, 10:57 am
Oh Sorry to add , respect to Lomu !! Legend of the game !! Will never forget his response after the final whistle in 95 , sad as he was he celebrated with the crowd as he could sense the importance of the win for SA as a country. Great player even greater ambassador
19 Oct 2011, 12:26 pm
Get well big man!
@mshiniwami(mshiniwami)-13: Let’s paint full picture including also unnoticed Burger coming from the side, Habana coming from the side, Brussow playing on the floor etc. etc. etc.
And Burger staying on the field after – again – resorting to his eye area antics in 59th minute – coming from the side and trying to rip off Pococks head, starting with fingers in his face.
Not even a penalty given there and okes are calling Bryce a cheat. Duh.
19 Oct 2011, 12:29 pm
@WP Till I Die(WP-Forever)-1: Agreed
19 Oct 2011, 14:01 pm
@Nils(Nils)-17:
Never happened or Brycie would have blown it
19 Oct 2011, 14:18 pm
@Hurricane(Hurricane)-19: http://images4.hiboox.com/images/4111/diapoe8f8259bd3e71b0961f8be9d89034ade.gif
For damn sure it did not happen it’s just George Lucas editing.
19 Oct 2011, 14:31 pm
@Hurricane(Hurricane)-19: What’s funny, Burger huffs and puffs and tries to rip head off once – Pocock does not move – Burger lands on his arse. He tries to rip off again – and again lands on B-side. He tries for the 3rd time….
Hard bugger that Pocock.
20 Oct 2011, 01:44 am
@mshiniwami(mshiniwami)-13: No, it’s not rubbish. Four years of poor coaching resulted in your loss to the Wallabies, not poor refereeing. Why did Steyn not go for a dropkick after the Boks were behind 11-9-he had more than one opportunity? Why were the backs not able to create more with all their possession? Why was Steyn not instructed at half-time to keep the scoreboard ticking with dropkicks considering the territory dominance the Boks enjoyed? Why did DiV not instruct his forwards to run at Pockock and thus take him out the game? Four years of poor coaching came home to roost in the QF. There was no creativity in the backline, and you can’t change that in a QF. Besides, Lawrence was poor for both sides, and had Brussow remained on the field, I suspect he would have enjoyed it as much as Pockock.
20 Oct 2011, 02:38 am
@WP Till I Die(WP-Forever)-1: Yes they got a whupping from the Aussies, nearly got bowled over by Wales and Samoa and their title defense for the WC was an insipid affair even by the standards that England set in ’07, who I might add actually made ti through to the finals.
I agree with IAN @22, its the coaching aspect that has had alot to do with the Boks misery, but also, at the end of the day, are all the Boks that f’n stupid that they cant see what is happening- I think not, they have some pretty astute characters in their team. I believe laziness is what has contributed to their demise. We spoke about this three years ago that the tendency to rely more on the Steyns boot to win games rather than playing real rugby would come back and bite you on the as s and it did.
20 Oct 2011, 02:54 am
KEO: can you please POST a “WHINGE ABOUT LOSING” thread for the tireless whinging thread spoilers!!
TO THE SPOILERS:
Show some decorum. Show these article the respect they deserve. Show the world the SAFAs are better than the current image of moaning W#$$%#RS.
Move on.
Well Done Lomu. A very sick man. Yet gives in an hour of need. I’ve not been a fan of some of lomu’s actions. But kudos where it is due.
20 Oct 2011, 07:02 am
I dont think Jonah will be going the charity ‘Biff’ with SBW anytime soon.
20 Oct 2011, 09:11 am
@Ian(Ian)-22:
Cant Argue with this post .
This all comes down to coaching.
20 Oct 2011, 09:29 am
@Ian(Ian)-22: rubbish, then the next thing we would’ve heard is how boring the boks are blah blah blah…the all blacks with 60% possession only scored one try against the same aussies and got a litany of penalties because the ref was NOT letting the aussies get away with ****!.
20 Oct 2011, 09:35 am
@Transformation(Transformation)-27:
So true.
But i dont think it was 60% possession was it?
But trans you also have to agree that having the best kicker in the world at, penalties, conversions and of course drop kicks, that alone should have closed that game out.
Boks did not know what to do with so much possesion and territory.
You can blame the ref to a point but in the end the boks themselves were there own undoing
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