Jonah
I suppose Jonah Lomu's death is not a shock, considering he'd been desperately ill a few times before. It's striking how much it's clearly hit home, though, even in such a ghastly week as this. Despite my cold republican, rugby-shunning hear, I was moved by this little detail http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/34876711 . He was a guy you never forgot. I first saw him at the Hong Kong Sevens in 1994 - it's quite rare for a Sevens player to cross over to 15-a-side so despite the extraordinary impact he made there, you couldn't be certain. He almost didn't make the All Black squad for the 1995 World Cup due to fitness concerns but when he got there, he changed rugby. It's simple and true. Everyone's been trotting out the line "first global superstar" this week, but it's exactly right. The modern professional game is created in his extraordinary image. That game against England is written in my memory. I watched it at school on ...