Sir Clive Woodward: 'Jonah Lomu took rugby to a new level'

Former England head coach Sir Clive Woodward has said that Jonah Lomu "took rugby to a whole new level" during his illustrious career.

The former New Zealand winger unexpectedly passed away aged just 40 on Wednesday having battled a rare kidney condition for almost two decades.

Lomu shot to worldwide acclaim with his performances at the 1995 World Cup, most notably a four-try demolition job of England in the semi-finals in South Africa when he was just 20 years old.

"He took rugby to a whole new level. There's very rarely one player who dominates a whole World Cup and he certainly did," World Cup-winning coach Woodward told BBC Radio 4.

"He was unstoppable. For the first time ever you had this incredibly gifted, large, very fast athlete on the wing.

"Wingers are usually small and nimble. Suddenly you had this huge guy who was big and fast and amazing. He changed rugby."

Lomu's 15 Rugby World Cup tries remains an all-time record after Bryan Habana could only equal the tally at this year's tournament.