Jonny WIlkinson has paid tribute to Jonah Lomu by describing him as his hero, intimidating, the perfect athlete for rugby and an incredible human being on and off the pitch.
The world of sport is mourning rugby's first global superstar after the All Blacks legend died on Wednesday in Auckland at the age of 40 having struggled with a rare kidney disease since retiring in 2002.
Former England international Wilkinson, got to know Lomu well while they both played domestic rugby in France. He spoke to Sky Sports News HQ about his memories of his old adversary and the lasting effect Lomu is having on the sport...
WHAT EFFECT DID LOMU HAVE ON RUGBY?
He did so much in his incredible and unfortunately short life. I spent a lot of time on the field opposite him. In the early days it was sheer intimidation. He was the one guy I genuinely felt like running away from and he ran over me numerous times.
He was the personification of the rugby athlete. If you could design a guy to play rugby, he was it. No one realised what the potential was in rugby until he turned up and did what he did.
HOW WELL DID YOU KNOW LOMU?
I got to know him more as a person in France and after our exchanges I realised the depth of the person himself and his character. With all those performances on the field, he wasn't robotically designed to play the game.
He was emotional about the game just the same as everyone else. But he still performed the way he did and be the guy he was off the field. It's a massive mark of respect to the man and what he did for the game.
DID LOMU CHANGE THE SPORT?
There's no doubt rugby was going in a certain direction and when Jonah turned up he changed the course of it. It was the way he showed the way for the modern game - the speed and ability of one person to dominate so many categories.
Power, physicality, speed, skills, intelligence, positional - he had everything. He didn't just cover those bases, he dominated them and gave people the understanding that this game wasn't something that you could choose to be OK at some things and great at others.
He was an all-round athlete. He raised the bar for everyone and how showed the game could be faster, more explosive and more exciting and that was how it was going to have to be.
HOW WAS LOMU AN INSPIRATION?
I was fortunate to be one of those young guys at home watching the 1995 World Cup final and was then part of 1999 and later on. There were so many times I faced him running straight at me.
I've never seen a face that's portrayed such pure delight and aggression when running with the ball and taking people on. You felt every single fibre of his desire when he was running.
And tackling him was a case of hanging in there. So many players tried to look after him but there was no way. He was that good and his spirit was unbreakable.
WHAT WAS LOMU LIKE AWAY FROM RUGBY?
He was incredibly reserved, quiet and very unassuming. That's a very attractive quality. On the field he was such a superstar - he was the superstar of rugby.
I remember being in Toulon training and looked up and saw him quietly sitting in the stands. I dashed over to have a chat with him and he was so calm and relaxed and easy to talk to. There was a certain aura that made you feel you wanted to be around the guy.
That gave people confidence and made them comfortable. He was always a hero for me. He had the perfect balance and that was something I tried to follow.