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All Black Jonah Lomu remembered at Eden Park

New Zealand has paid tribute to All Black great Jonah Lomu at the spiritual home of Kiwi rugby, with thousands of fans packing a memorial service at Auckland’s Eden Park.

A Maori mourning chant echoed around the stadium on Monday as All Black legends including Michael Jones and Frank Bunce carried a black casket containing Lomu’s body onto the field.

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Lomu’s widow Nadene Lomu and her two sons Brayley and Dhyreille drape a flag over his casket. Photo: Reuters

Lomu’s wife Nadene and sons Brayley, six, and Dhyreille, five, wearing black shirts with the winger’s number 11, followed with heads bowed.

Lomu’s career was cut short by chronic kidney disease and he died unexpectedly at his Auckland home this month aged just 40.

The ceremony, which will be followed by a private funeral on Tuesday, was broadcast live by all major television stations in New Zealand, where Lomu was a beloved figure even among those too young to have seen him play.

Eden Park was a happy hunting ground for the player, who appeared in six Tests at the ground and won five of them.

Former All Blacks coach John Hart said there could be no better place to say farewell to the legend.

“We’ve chosen Eden Park because it’s the spiritual home of rugby and somewhere that Jonah loved so much,” he said.

World Rugby chairman Bernard Lapasset made the 18,000 kilometre trip from France to pay his respects to a man he said helped bring the sport into the professional era.

“He’s an icon in rugby and I have to represent all the fans that Jonah had in the world,” he said.

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Maori men perform a haka dance in memory of Lomu. Photo: AFP

“This fantastic man delivered a very great message about rugby to the world.”

Since Lomu’s death, tributes have poured in from across globe, with many players recalling how he inspired them to take up the game.

Such was his fame that condolences also came from beyond the sport, including Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II, British footballer David Beckham and Hollywood star Morgan Freeman.

A host of Wallabies legends were in attendance at Eden Park, including George Gregan, David Campese and Tim Horan.

New Zealand Sevens great Eric Rush spoke colourfully of his great mate Jonah and lightened the mood for a while.

Rush said the pair used to love taking the mickey out of each other, but he’ll remember Lomu as a good mate and great dad.

“You didn’t tell Jonah to do anything, but if you asked him, he’d run through a brick wall for you,” Rush said.

“Jonah feared no man but he did fear one person and that was his mum Hepi. When his mum said things, he acted.

“I want to thank you for sharing your son. Not just with New Zealand, but all of the world. It must have been hard because everyone wanted a piece of him.”

– AFP/ABC

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