‘He made us look ridiculous’ – England stars recall Jonah Lomu’s devastating four tries in new documentary

A new documentary from TNT Sports explores the lasting legacy of New Zealand great Jonah Lomu, with part of the film focusing on the late winger’s devastating World Cup performance against England.

In the film, Lomu, speaking in an archived interview, prefaces his discussion of the game by claiming that England counterpart Tony Underwood winked at him while New Zealand did the Haka.

He continued, “So many amazing things happened that day that I couldn’t believe. Everything was going our way and when the ball started rolling it was quite difficult to stop.”

Perhaps the most famous of the day’s tries was Lomu’s first, when he steamrolled England fullback Mike Catt on his way to the try line.

Lomu explained: “All I remember is Will (Carling) almost knocking me over, and I was staggering along and just as I regained my balance I could just see Mike Catt in front of me.

“All I knew was that I had to run straight into him because I couldn’t walk. I saw the try line and I knew I couldn’t take another step, so I had to jump.

“I was willing to do anything. I was in a different zone. I had pretty much taken my game to another level. I could have hit a brick wall that day. It was one of those games, everything clicked.

“It was just a great buzz. There was a great atmosphere and having been given that opportunity, I cherished every moment I had.”

“I remember trying to tackle and it was quite a heavy leg. I thought that would bring him down.”

But Lomu stayed awake along the way before meeting Catt on his way to one of the sport’s most iconic tries.

“I think that was a warning: if we leave him one-on-one, we’re going to be in trouble,” Carling added.

“It’s crazy. Our defense used to be okay, and he made us look ridiculous.”

Lomu, who passed away unexpectedly in 2015, remains the most iconic player in rugby union history.