As a player Jonah Lomu had everything that would make him one of the all time greats : speed, skill and power and no opponent wanted to face down a 6’5’’ power house riding rough shod through them as England found in the 1995 World. But what Lomu also had, unknown to him at that time, was severe kidney disease that quickly worsened and would eventually take him. Most sports documentaries recount sporting greats that trace their route to the top but Lomu covers his heartbreaking and uncontrollable downfall due to illness.
Lomu the man…..
Raised by a devout Christian family (his father was a preacher) and proud of his Tongan roots, his sporting prowess was quickly noticed in school and by 19 he became the youngest ever player to don the All Blacks shirt. Yet despite the acclaim he was a hugely shy man who expressed himself on the field. His phenomenal skill at the 1995 saw him become a global superstar and it opened up a world of deals for him that his mentor Phil Kingsley Jones guided him through on his way to the top. He was both literally and metaphorically head and shoulders above other players. Four tries in one game against England in the 95 World Cup, (the same year the team were suspiciously struck down by food poisoning before the final), five French players assigned to stop him in their 1999 World cup game (and still powered through the lot of them) showed he was pretty much unstoppable. And yet his kidney disease was already taking hold of him and by the late 90s out of necessity he was undergoing dialysis determined that he would play in the 1999 World Cup.
Behind the man…
Directed by Vea Mafile’o and Gavin FitzGerald the film doesn’t shy away from the toll his world wide fame, his battle with illness and aspects of his personal life (he was married three times) took on him. His Tongan heritage and his own shyness often collided with all of the attention his skill on the field drew. He was undoubtedly one of the superstars of international rugby and yet he died penniless, divorced and perhaps in his own mind, worst of all, was the frustration that he never won the World Cup in 95 and 99 and was too ill to be on the team a third time. A literal and figurative giant of the sport whose career was cut tragically short and this documentary is a fitting tribute to a talent that, aged only 40, was gone all too soon.
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Here’s the trailer……
Lomu is in cinemas on 7th September 2026 for one day only
