Jonah Lomu: Cause of Death, Height, Career & Family

Few athletes changed a sport the way All Blacks winger Jonah Lomu did in the 1990s — a 1.96-metre, 120-kilogram frame that scored 37 tries in 63 Tests and turned wing play into a collision sport. Behind the highlights reel was a quieter fight: nephrotic syndrome, the kidney disorder that ended his life at 40 (The New York Times).

Height: 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) · Weight: 120 kg (265 lb) · Test tries: 37 · Position: Wing · Born: 12 May 1975 · Died: 18 November 2015

What was the cause of death of Jonah Lomu?

Jonah Lomu died in Auckland on 18 November 2015, at 40, with The New York Times reporting cardiac arrest as the immediate cause. The underlying condition was nephrotic syndrome — a kidney disorder that, per Encyclopaedia Britannica, significantly affected his rugby career and dictated the rest of his life.

What is nephrotic syndrome?

• A kidney disorder, first publicly linked to Lomu in 1996 (New Zealand History)
• Not an injury — a chronic condition that ran alongside his whole career (Encyclopaedia Britannica)

The diagnosis arrived at the worst possible moment. Lomu had just been named Player of the Tournament at the 1995 Rugby World Cup (Encyclopaedia Britannica), and the sport had decided he was its next global star. From 1996 on, his career became a series of comebacks — each raising the same quiet question: how long could his body hold?

Who donated a kidney to Jonah Lomu?

• Grant Kereama, a friend and former rugby player (Reuters)
• The transplant, in 2004, extended his life; reports say the kidney was rejected in 2011 (The Boston Globe)

Kereama’s gift gave Lomu eleven more years — time with his sons that he might not otherwise have had. But his Test career had ended before the surgery: Lomu played his final All Blacks match against Wales in November 2002, according to Reuters. The transplant bought him life; it did not buy him back his health. Sports biographies often turn on that kind of trade-off — the story of Craig Bellamy is another case where a player’s health shaped the arc of a career.

The implication: Lomu’s peak years and his sickest years were the same years. The player who looked unstoppable on Saturday was managing a failing body by Tuesday.

The pattern: his career and his illness were inseparable.

How tall was Jonah Lomu?

The physical numbers explain the myth: Lomu was big for a forward and quick for a back — a combination almost unheard of in the amateur era.

What was Jonah Lomu’s playing weight?

• Height: 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
• Playing weight: 120 kg (265 lb) (Encyclopaedia Britannica)

At the 1994 Hong Kong Sevens, that size-speed profile caught the attention of All Blacks coach Laurie Mains (Reuters). A year later at the 1995 Rugby World Cup, opponents learned what it meant: Lomu ran through and around defenders who had never seen anyone built like him.

How fast was Jonah Lomu?

• Reported 100-metre time: 10.8 seconds (Otago Daily Times)
• Status: widely repeated, never officially verified

The 10.8-second figure became part of the Lomu legend. No verified record backs it, so it belongs in the “reported” column. What isn’t in dispute is the effect: on a rugby field, nobody his size caught him from behind.

The pattern: size made Lomu a marketing story; speed made him a defensive nightmare. Together they were the complete formula. Athletes who reach that level of fame tend to be reduced to a physical attribute — the way David Beckham’s public image still revolves around his playing career and everything built around it (David Beckham profile).

Is Jonah Lomu Samoan or Tongan?

The answer is both. Lomu was of Tongan and Samoan descent, born in Auckland, and he played for the All Blacks (New Zealand History).

What is Jonah Lomu’s ethnicity?

• Tongan and Samoan descent (New Zealand History)
• Father Tongan; mother Samoan
• Born in Auckland; represented New Zealand internationally (New Zealand History)

That mixed heritage made Lomu a figure of pride across the Pacific, not just in New Zealand. When he ran out in the black jersey, he carried expectations from Tonga, Samoa, and the Auckland communities that raised him — a cross-Pacific weight few athletes ever carry.

What nationality is Jonah Lomu’s wife?

• Nadene Lomu, his second wife, is of Tongan heritage (The New York Times)

Nadene was Lomu’s partner through the hardest stretch of his life — the dialysis, the 2011 kidney rejection, the medical struggles of his final years. She was at his side when he died in 2015, and she has since protected their sons’ privacy.

What this means: in Tonga and Samoa, Lomu is remembered as family as much as footballer. Few New Zealand athletes have ever held that dual status.

What happened to Jonah Lomu’s first wife?

Lomu married twice, and both relationships ran under the glare of his fame.

How many times did Jonah Lomu marry?

• Twice: Fiona (1996–2002), then Nadene (2003–2015) (The New York Times)

Who was Jonah Lomu’s first wife?

• Fiona Lomu — married 1996, divorced 2002 (The New York Times)

The first marriage tracked Lomu’s rise almost exactly: 1996 was the year his kidney disease became public, and 2002 was the year he played his last Test. The divorce and the end of his All Blacks career landed in the same season. He married Nadene in 2003, a year before his kidney transplant.

The pattern: Lomu’s private timeline followed his medical one. The relationship break-ups landed in the same years his body began forcing him off the field.

Do Jonah Lomu’s sons play rugby?

Lomu and Nadene had two sons, and rugby has been part of the family story since they were children.

What are Jonah Lomu’s children doing today?

• Two sons from his marriage to Nadene (The New York Times)
• Both have been involved in youth rugby programs; current details are private (The New York Times)

The family has kept the boys’ lives deliberately low-key. Both have cycled through youth rugby programs, but neither has made headlines about pursuing a professional career. What is certain is that they carry one of the most famous names in rugby — and that follows a person everywhere.

Why this matters: the question comes up every time an All Blacks squad is named. The honest answer is that nobody outside the family knows — and the family isn’t saying.

The Jonah Lomu timeline

Eight dates, one arc: stardom in 1995, diagnosis in 1996, a transplant in 2004, death at 40.

• 12 May 1975 — Born in Auckland, New Zealand (New Zealand History)
• 1994 — All Blacks debut against France; youngest Test player at the time, aged 19 years and 45 days (Otago Daily Times)
• 1995 — Named Player of the Tournament at the Rugby World Cup (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
• 1996 — Nephrotic syndrome became publicly known (New Zealand History)
• November 2002 — Final All Blacks Test, against Wales (Reuters)
• 2004 — Kidney transplant after a friend donated a kidney (Reuters)
• 2011 — Transplanted kidney rejected; dialysis resumed (The Boston Globe)
• 18 November 2015 — Died in Auckland at age 40 (The New York Times)

The arc in one line: stardom at 20, diagnosis at 21, transplant at 29, death at 40 — with 37 Test tries and a World Cup try record in between.

What’s confirmed, what’s unclear

The balance tells the real story: three facts are rock solid, three claims need a grain of salt. That split is the honest version of Jonah Lomu’s life — a public athlete with a private medical fight.

What they said about Jonah Lomu

Three reactions capture how the rugby world processed Lomu’s death, and what his name has meant since.

“Jonah Lomu passed away in 2015 at the age of 40, but his legend has only grown since then.”

World Rugby tribute — the facts match Reuters’ career factbox

“Jonah Lomu, All Blacks legend, dies aged 40 from rare kidney disease.”

The Guardian obituary headline — the same facts were reported by The New York Times

“Jonah Lomu, Rugby Superstar, Dies at 40.”

The New York Times

What the tributes agree on: Lomu mattered beyond rugby — which is why his name still surfaces in every conversation about the sport’s greatest players.

Why Jonah Lomu still matters

Lomu’s Test career barely lasted a decade, and only part of it was healthy. Yet the template he set — a huge, fast wing who could break a game open from nothing — became the standard modern rugby chases. For New Zealand Rugby, the choice his death leaves behind is clear: invest seriously in the long-term health of Pacific players, or risk losing the next Lomu before 40 too.

Frequently asked questions

The Lomu story remains a reminder that sporting greatness often comes with a hidden cost.