great...he is back again!!!
Lomu on the comeback trail as Johnson takes final bow
MARION TRACE
MARTIN Johnson and Jonah Lomu come face to face on a rugby field again this afternoon.
For Johnson, it is the end of an illustrious career. For Lomu, it may mark a new beginning.
The players will captain the teams in a game marking the retirement of England's World Cup-winning captain at Twickenham, where New Zealand's Lomu scored the last of his 37 Test tries in 2002.
Since then, he's endured a loss of form due to a sickness so severe it led to a kidney transplant a year ago. Doctors were divided on whether the 6ft 5in winger would ever play again.
But having signed to play in New Zealand's national championship with North Harbour, Lomu is treating today's game as a first step back. "The way he's recovered is a fantastic story. It's going to be great to see the big guy again," said New Zealand's Carlos Spencer, who'll play at fly-half for Lomu's team.
"Most guys would have called it quits and just been happy to get well again, but he wants to go on and do as much as he can. Who's to say he can't do it?"
At his peak, Lomu was virtually unstoppable.
But in 1996 he was diagnosed with nephritis, a chronic renal ailment. He continued playing for the All Blacks until 2002, but, in April 2003, his health began to deteriorate.
By November, he could hardly walk and was on dialysis treatment for ten hours a day, ruining any hopes he had of playing in his third World Cup.
Lomu's health has improved rapidly since receiving a donor kidney in June 2004. He confirmed late last year that he would make Johnson's benefit match and, at 30, a return to international rugby isn't impossible.
Johnson is also looking forward, but with some trepidation. The leader of a World Cup-winning team and captain of two British Lions' tours, he admits he doesn't know what he'll do once he's retired. As he takes his final curtain call today, he will lead out a team boasting players with almost 800 international appearances between them.
Former England wing Austin Healey is up against Lomu, and France's Raphael Ibanez and Olivier Magne will also line up.
It will be a last chance for Johnson to better Lomu, just about the only challenge he failed in his playing career.
"He is more a villain than a legend to me, having knocked England out of two World Cups," said Johnson. "But hopefully this will be a successful first step back for him."
Lomu on the comeback trail as Johnson takes final bow
MARION TRACE
MARTIN Johnson and Jonah Lomu come face to face on a rugby field again this afternoon.
For Johnson, it is the end of an illustrious career. For Lomu, it may mark a new beginning.
The players will captain the teams in a game marking the retirement of England's World Cup-winning captain at Twickenham, where New Zealand's Lomu scored the last of his 37 Test tries in 2002.
Since then, he's endured a loss of form due to a sickness so severe it led to a kidney transplant a year ago. Doctors were divided on whether the 6ft 5in winger would ever play again.
But having signed to play in New Zealand's national championship with North Harbour, Lomu is treating today's game as a first step back. "The way he's recovered is a fantastic story. It's going to be great to see the big guy again," said New Zealand's Carlos Spencer, who'll play at fly-half for Lomu's team.
"Most guys would have called it quits and just been happy to get well again, but he wants to go on and do as much as he can. Who's to say he can't do it?"
At his peak, Lomu was virtually unstoppable.
But in 1996 he was diagnosed with nephritis, a chronic renal ailment. He continued playing for the All Blacks until 2002, but, in April 2003, his health began to deteriorate.
By November, he could hardly walk and was on dialysis treatment for ten hours a day, ruining any hopes he had of playing in his third World Cup.
Lomu's health has improved rapidly since receiving a donor kidney in June 2004. He confirmed late last year that he would make Johnson's benefit match and, at 30, a return to international rugby isn't impossible.
Johnson is also looking forward, but with some trepidation. The leader of a World Cup-winning team and captain of two British Lions' tours, he admits he doesn't know what he'll do once he's retired. As he takes his final curtain call today, he will lead out a team boasting players with almost 800 international appearances between them.
Former England wing Austin Healey is up against Lomu, and France's Raphael Ibanez and Olivier Magne will also line up.
It will be a last chance for Johnson to better Lomu, just about the only challenge he failed in his playing career.
"He is more a villain than a legend to me, having knocked England out of two World Cups," said Johnson. "But hopefully this will be a successful first step back for him."