Yahoo Movies The ridiculous Rugby World Cup records that Jonah Lomu still holds
The late great All Black Jonah Lomu is synonymous with the Rugby World Cup and is widely regarded as one of the game’s all-time greats.
Lomu has an incredible highlights reel, which features among the most viewed rugby videos on YouTube and social media.
The legendary winger is credited for revolutionising the game, and to this day, he still holds Rugby World Cup records.
Jonah Lomu’s Rugby World Cup try records
The All Blacks winger is well known for holding the joint record for the most tries in Rugby World Cups after crossing the whitewash 15 times in 11 tournament matches.
Springboks winger Bryan Habana equalled his record in 2015, but it took the Bok great 18 matches to reach the mark.
Lomu (1999), Habana (2007) and Julian Savea (2015) jointly hold the record for most tries in a single edition of the tournament.
While his try-scoring record is remarkable, he holds other Rugby World Cup records to this day.
Lomu’s defenders beaten records
With the help of Opta stats, we take a look at his other outstanding achievements.
In his debut tournament, the then 20-year-old crossed the whitewash on seven occasions, including four in the semi-final against England. In South Africa, he also smashed Sir John Kirwan’s record for the most defenders beaten.
Kirwan beat 37 defenders during the first-ever tournament in 1987, but Lomu posted a stunning 48.
He beat 15 defenders in the 1995 quarter-final match against Scotland, a record that Seru Rabeni equalled in 2003 against the United States. Rabeni’s teammate, Vilimoni Delasau, smashed the record in the same game, beating a mind-blowing 24 defenders.
Four years later, he scored seven tries but also went on to break his previous record of 48 defenders beaten by one, taking his tally to 97.
He still leads the statistic, beating 26 more than the next best from Wallabies legend David Campese.
Running metres in the World Cup
Surprisingly, Lomu does not hold any of the records for the most metres in a single World Cup match or in a single tournament.
However, he does lead the statistic for the most metres gained in Rugby World Cups.
He gained 1,219 metres in his 11 games for a staggering average of 110.82 metres per game. The next best tally is also posted by Habana (1,048), with the Bok winger averaging 58.2 metres per match.
Lomu is undoubtedly one of the greatest players of all time, and most of his records are unlikely to be beaten during the 2023 Rugby World Cup.
On 18 November 2015, the rugby world mourned the passing of the brilliant All Black, but to this day, his memory lives on, and every four years, we are reminded just how he lit up the game on its biggest stage.
READ MORE: Jonah Lomu: Can you name every international team the All Blacks great scored against?
The article The ridiculous Rugby World Cup records that Jonah Lomu still holds appeared first on Planetrugby.com.
