It is a very sad day and as we have lost one of the great sporting icons in Jonah Lomu.
He had such an impact on the game of rugby and, for me, one of the most amazing things is that he was never 100 per cent fit. Because of his illness he was always playing with an incredible handicap but was still way ahead of his time.
I remember watching a documentary about George Best and they said when he moved to play in America he was only at 60 per cent of his best, but 60 per cent was more than good enough for America. The same can be said for Jonah, although for him it was not due to lack of trying or other issues, it was because of his kidney illness. We were privileged to have seen him in action and heaven knows what he would have been like if he was 100 per cent fit.
It is a very sad day but we must try and remember the good times - however on that day in 1995 it was not such a good time for England!
The first and only time I played against him was in that semi-final. I don't remember many games and many scores but it was June 18, 1995 in the semi-final of the Rugby World Cup and we lost 45-29.
We had beaten Australia and we had the All Blacks next. Unfortunately within 20 minutes the dream of going to a World Cup final was over for us.
I remember that we had a game plan to give Rory Underwood the ball early with a bit of space and he would go round Jonah - I think within about five steps Jonah had caught him with his little finger and threw him into touch. Unfortunately we did not have a Plan B and Jonah Lomu just stole the show, scoring four tries out of six.
We were well aware of him before the game but we were not expecting him to wreak so much havoc and chaos on us.
I remember coming off the field that day and Sean Fitzpatrick said to me that if it was in any consolation the All Blacks team were in awe of him as well.
Rugby is not a one-man game but he was the closest thing you had to that.
He had this ability to just devastate defences. As a youngster you were always taught to go low in the tackle - unfortunately he had four hydraulic rams - two in his legs and two in his arms - so if you ever did get close to him and tried to go low to bring him down, these big pistons would come out and slam you into the ground.
He didn't kick the ball but then he didn't have to - you always knew what was coming but there was very little you could do to stop him.
He was an incredible man on and off the field - he was the first one to come up and give you a handshake even if he had just smashed you to smithereens on the pitch.
A national treasure
I remember after the World Cup Laurie Mains - New Zealand's coach at the time - saying that he had read that Lomu was linked with a move to American football. Mains said that if he had not brought Jonah Lomu back to New Zealand he would not have been allowed back in the country because Jonah was a national treasure.
He was the first of the really big backs - Va'aiga Tuigamala played for New Zealand in 1993 and we all know what he did for them, for Newcastle and in rugby league as well. Inga the Winger was big and effective but Jonah was bigger and more effective.
World rugby reacted by desperately looking around for bigger and faster backs. Size is not the be all and end all as Shane Williams has proved but at that time, when the game was changing and moving into the professional era, teams from all over the world were looking for their own one-man wrecking ball.
I have many fond memories playing rugby. I was privileged to play for my country and I played for the British and Irish Lions, however one of my biggest memories was playing against the big man that was Jonah Lomu.