Andy Richards

When Jonah Lomu burst on to the scene in the mid-1990’s he became the most famous rugby player in the world.

Huge, fast and with a great handoff, he seemed to have everything.

He was the player of the tournament at the 1995 World Cup and ran over and through dozens of defenders over the next few years before his career was cut short with a serious kidney disorder.

At the time of the 1995 World Cup, rugby was just about to go professional. It would appear that since then, defenses have gotten better and fitness levels have increased drastically.

So, almost 15 years later, I want to ask the question - Would Jonah Lomu make such a huge impact in the modern professional game of today?

The reason for such a hypothetical question is because I have noticed lately that there has been a rash of high profile big hitting backs that run straight and hard and for one reason or another have come unstuck, not making the kind of impact players of their size once did.

Last weekend I watched a Heineken Cup game between the Ospreys and Leicester. I was quite taken aback by how ineffectual Alesani Tuilagi was as an attacking weapon.

For the past couple of seasons he had been on fire; he single-handedly destroyed Gloucester in the Premiership a couple of years back.

Jonah Lomu

But against the Ospreys he was taken to the cleaners by the midfield pairing of Andrew Bishop and James Hook.

Running straight into contact Tuilagi was grounded and quickly stripped of the ball several times before being pinged for holding on.

The law changes are definitely helping defenders against big straight runners. Being able to hold on to the ball if you’re on your feet really does stack the odds against them, even if they are huge and powerful.

Double-teaming in the tackle is becoming the vogue – one to go to ground in the tackle, the other hanging on but staying on their feet before going straight for the ball.

Lesley Vainikolo is another player that came onto the scene with a great splash, scoring five tries in his Guinness Premiership debut for Gloucester, but since then, he hasn’t really set the league on fire.

And in his five appearances for England, he became a bit of a liability at the breakdown, turning over the ball too many times to be selected again.

He is currently not in any of the England sides and it looks like he might be ready to make the move back to rugby league. Lote Tuquiri is another player on his way to rugby league.

Once a potent weapon for Australia, the ex-league star has failed to make much of an impact in the Guinness Premiership.

Matt Banahan, a second row turned winger, made a splash for several seasons at Bath and with the England Saxons. Scoring a hat trick against the US Eagles in the Churchill Cup and scoring England’s only try in the autumn internationals.

Banahan looked set for a first Six Nations campaign this year, but patchy form for his club has seen him left out of the team for the first game against Wales.

From a coaching perspective, I guess the lesson to be learned is that if you have a hard-running wing or center, make sure he has a good step and evasive skills that can at least get him in a position to stay on his feet and perhaps offload to a supporting player.

Maybe the days of the hard-running, truck-sized winger are gone. Let’s face it, even Jonah Lomu was closed down during the 1995 final because South Africa gang-tackled him.

Which brings us back to our question. Would Jonah Lomu have been as dominant today as he was 15 years ago?

My opinion is, yes, without a doubt. Lomu was one of a kind.

Not only was he huge, fast with a great handoff, but he was also blessed with a great step that gave him the ability to get enough distance between him and diminutive tacklers that he seemed to be able to swat away like flies.

I very much doubt I’ll see another Jonah Lomu in my lifetime.