All Black legend Jonah Lomu admitted his struggles against one player, despite his extraordinary career.
Lomu, who was regarded as the first true global superstar of rugby, finished his international career with 63 caps and 37 tries.
However, despite being one of the greatest ever, there’s one player he struggled against on the field.
“My toughest opponent for me was Émile Ntamack,” revealed Lomu prior to the 2015 World Cup.
“When your taught to defend against someone you’re told to watch his hips because it’s the one place on the body when you’re running that stays in one place.
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“The problem with Émile was his whole body shifted, including his hips, meaning when he ran he swayed from side to side so I was always like what the the hell am I going to do here.
“So for me that was the toughest challenge I faced,”
Ntamack, who turns 50 this year, will always be remembered as one of the great French wingers, swift and elusive and a deadly finisher, but for France’s new generation he is better known as fly-half Romain’s dad.
20 Things You Didn’t Know About Jonah Lomu!
RUCK.co.uk shares with you 20 not so well known facts about the late, great All Black legend Jonah Lomu.
1. Size & Power
He weighed 120 kg and was 1.96 metres tall, but could run 100 metres in 10.8 seconds
2. Kidney transplant
After it was confirmed he needed a transplant, the kidney was donated by Wellington radio presenter and Lomu’s long-term f
3. McDonald’s
n 1996, McDonald’s New Zealand named a burger after Lomu, temporarily rebranding the McFeast burger line (called “Mega Feast” in New Zealand) as the “Jonah Burger”.
4. Still fresh…
He only had two All Black caps heading into the Rugby World Cup in 1995
5. On screen…
He is portrayed by Isaac Fe’aunati in Invictus, a film chronicling Nelson Mandela’s journey with the South African rugby team in the 1995 World Cup.
