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Lomu review – fascinatingly nuanced tribute to rugby’s first superstar

His destructive pace and power changed the game for ever, but behind the fame and impassive exterior of this gentle giant was a life of chaos and emotional discord There’s an inevitable air of melancholy overhanging this profile of New Zealand rugby star Jonah Lomu; we all know how the story ended for this magnificent human specimen, who died in 2015 aged 40 as a result of a longterm kidney disorder. Lomu, of course, became a legend of the game after breaking into the All Blacks side – the ferociously high-achieving New Zealand national team, for anyone outside the rugby-appreciating universe – at the scarcely believable age of 19; his special combination of a tank-like physique, electric pace and ability to slalom at high speed gave him an almost unstoppable force in what is arguably the toughest contact sport of all. Lomu had the bulk and power of a forward (I liked the detail that he

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His destructive pace and power changed the game for ever, but behind the fame and impassive exterior of this gentle giant was a life of chaos and emotional discord There’s an inevitable air of melancholy overhanging this profile of New Zealand rugby star Jonah Lomu; we all know how the story ended for this magnificent human specimen, who died in 2015 aged 40 as a result of a longterm kidney disorder. Lomu, of course, became a legend of the game after breaking into the All Blacks side – the ferociously high-achieving New Zealand national team, for anyone outside the rugby-appreciating universe – at the scarcely believable age of 19; his special combination of a tank-like physique, electric pace and ability to slalom at high speed gave him an almost unstoppable force in what is arguably the toughest contact sport of all. Lomu had the bulk and power of a forward (I liked the detail that he

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According to The Guardian’s source item, Lomu review – fascinatingly nuanced tribute to rugby’s first superstar, His destructive pace and power changed the game for ever, but behind the fame and impassive exterior of this gentle giant was a life of chaos and emotional discord There’s an inevitable air of melancholy overhanging this profile of New Zealand rugby star Jonah Lomu; we all know how the story ended for this magnificent human specimen, who died in 2015 aged 40 as a result of a longterm kidney disorder. Lomu, of course, became a legend of the game after breaking into the All Blacks side – the ferociously high-achieving New Zealand national team, for anyone outside the rugby-appreciating universe – at the scarcely believable age of 19; his special combination of a tank-like physique, electric pace and ability to slalom at high speed gave him an almost unstoppable force in what is arguably the toughest contact sport of all. Lomu had the bulk and power of a forward (I liked the detail that he

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