Jonah Lomu altered the course of rugby in his seven short years as an All Black.
The New Zealand winger, who passed away last night at the age of 40, scored 37 times in 63 Test outings and is the joint top tryscorer in Rugby World Cups.
As the tributes pour in to Lomu, Irish rugby legends Brian O’Driscoll and Keith Wood respectfully joined the queue.
“I remember in that game [in 2001] being left one-on-one with him,” O’Driscoll said on Today FM.
“There was inevitability about what was going to happen. I was only five or six yards out from the line and I knew that I was only going to be a road bump. Someone else was going to have to come in and finish the job off.
“Once they got the ball into Jonah’s hands, against someone that was 5′ 10”, simple physics would tell you there is only going to be one winner.
“He ran over the top of me and scored a try and that was part of their comeback.”
Really awful news to wake up to this morning. Jonah was rugby's first real superstar. Thoughts are with his family.
— Brian O'Driscoll (@BrianODriscoll) November 18, 2015
Over on Newstalk, Keith Wood explained how Lomu’s passing had left him “gutted”.
Wood commented, “Heartbroken is the phrase that comes into it.”
“I sat on the bench for that World Cup game in 1995 when he steamrolled Ireland, not long before he steamrolled England [in the semis],” he added.
Wood knew the Kiwi from on- and off-the-field contact and was shaken by his death.
“He absolutely catapulted rugby onto the world stage,” declared the former Irish captain.
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