“He smashed everybody including me,” said HSBC ambassador Waisale Serevi in a tribute to one of the pillars of sevens rugby – Jonah Lomu.
The Cathay Pacific/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens held a memorial event immediately following the opening tournament to honour Lomu and former HKRU and World Rugby executive Beth Coalter during .
” I remember Jonah lomu in 1994 when he came to my room with Luke Erenavula. Luke said Jonah wants to see you and I said yeah. He was so nervous and not talking a lot like normal islanders when we meet,” said Sevevi.
“That night we had biscuits and snacks from Fiji. After that he went back and I told him ‘Jonah I just want to wish you well. Make sure you make the most of it in this tournament’.
“In the next two days he smashed everybody including me. I played against him the first year he came. He hits really hard and is a really difficult player to take down. As the whole world can see and he went to become one of the greatest rugby player of all time regarding his height and his speed. He’s a very good player. For him to pass away so early my heart and prayers are with his family — his wife and kids. Just looking at Jonah’s life. He came straight from Tonga and was in New Zealand. He has done a lot of things in rugby and a well- known figure. A lot of people know where Tonga is because of what Jonah has done in rugby It’s really sad for me thinking of his early departure and we all remember him.
“For Hong Kong to remember him this weekend with Beth is really good. They remember a rugby player who started in Hong Kong.
“Because of the Hong Kong sevens they made their names. The Hong Kong sevens is the fastest way to national team. The whole rugby world is watches you. That is why we salute the Hong Kong sevens and salute Jonah lomu for what he has done.”
Lomu was 19 years and 45 days old when he made his debut in Hong Kong ion 1994. The following he cemented his reputation as rugby’s most unstoppable force by scoring seven tries at the 1995 Rugby World Cup in South Africa.
Lomu returned to Hong Kong last year after he was named in the tournament’s Magnificent Seven — the top sevens players to have appeared in Hong Kong over the past 40 years of sevens.
The other Magnificent Seven are Erica Rush, David Campese, Serevi, Christian Cullen, Ben Gollings and Zhang
