#InTheSpotlight Tribute to Jonah Lomu #AllBlacks

Jonah Tali Lomu, MNZM (12 May 1975 – 18 November 2015) was a New Zealand rugby union player of Tongan descent.[1] He was the youngest ever All Black when he played his first international in 1994 at the age of 19 years and 45 days. Lomu finished with sixty-three caps and scored 37 international tries. He has been described as the first true global superstar of rugby union[2] and as having a huge impact on the game.[3] Lomu was inducted into the International Rugby Hall of Fame on 9 October 2007,[4] and the IRB Hall of Fame on 24 October 2011.[5]Lomu burst onto the international rugby scene during the 1994 Hong Kong Sevens tournament and was widely acknowledged to be the top player at the 1995 World Cup in South Africa even though New Zealand lost the final to the host Springboks. At one time Lomu was considered 'rugby union's biggest drawcard',[6] swelling attendances at any match where he appeared. He was one of the Rugby World Cup all-time top try scorers with 15 tries, a record he shares with Bryan Habana of South Africa—despite never winning a World Cup.[7]He played for several domestic teams, in the Super Rugby, NPC and later the Magners League competitions. These included the Auckland Blues, Chiefs and Hurricanes, and Counties Manukau, Wellington and later North Harbour and Cardiff Blues. He made a comeback after undergoing a kidney transplant in 2004, finally retiring from professional rugby in 2007. He died suddenly on 18 November 2015.