It transpired that the Lomu of 1995, who scored four times against England in a World Cup semi-final at Newlands in Cape Town, was "operating at about 80 per cent of my capacity".Lomu has agreed a two-year contract with North Harbour province and says he "can't wait to get on a plane home and get into it". It was at HQ, too, that in December 1996 Lomu appeared for the New Zealand Barbarians immediately before his first hiatus of nine months spent treating his disease with steroids which ballooned him several stones overweight. Coincidentally it was at Twickenham in November 2002 that he ran in the last two of his 37 Test tries. The symptoms of renal failure were taking hold and, at its worst, he could barely put one foot in front of the other. The Kidney Foundation in New Zealand discourages transplantees from engaging in contact sport. "They were absolutely stupid," said Lomu, with a familiar jut of the jaw above a frame that is trim and relatively well toned after his recent stints in the gym.
"They did not know what I knew, about where the kidney was going to be put and how it would work."Last night Lomu pulled on a rugby jersey for the first time since he touched the ball three times in a 40-minute appearance for Wellington in a pre-season friendly in August 2003. 2005 is my year of feeling my way back into the game."Some say it is a year of living dangerously. "Jonah's got a mission and a goal and regardless of what happens, he's a winner. The thing that appeals to me most is that it transcends sport.
He will give millions of kidney disease sufferers hope; a kid in the Philippines may hear about this and be inspired. You can't put a price on that."Kirwan was in London as backs coach to Lomu's star-studded pick-up team for last night's Martin Johnson testimonial match at Twickenham. Not a single man asked to play alongside Lomu turned him down, whether they were team-mates who used to profit from his shattering breaks or former opponents still mentally nursing the bruises.Lomu made one successful comeback after he was diagnosed with nephrotic syndrome shortly before the 1995 World Cup. But the disease caught up with him more effectively than any chasing defender and he went on to dialysis in 2003 and - on 27 July 2004 - received a new kidney from a Wellington radio broadcaster, Grant Kereama."It was the day I started life all over again," said Lomu "If I hadn't any doubts or fear I wouldn't be doing it. If Lomu in his 31st year achieves his ambition of playing rugby again after a kidney transplant, his already remarkable tale is bound to break barriers far beyond the game. "The great word is 'hope'," said John Kirwan, a big, strong, try-scoring wing for the All Blacks before Lomu redefined the parameters. "Who decides how acceptable the risk is? If you have educated the players and done everything possible to minimise the risk then it has to be left to the participants to decide.". There is a black-and-white photograph on the wall of a clubhouse in Pukekohe on the north island of New Zealand, from which the face of a teenaged Jonah Lomu stares out, proud and defiant.
