I'll preface this by saying I am a big Clarke fan. I was very impressed with his season this year for the Blues and was delighted he got an ABs call-up. I thought his work off the bench in Bledisloe 1 was decent and we all saw his excellent performance in Bledisloe 2.
However, I am concerned that having big media outlets calling him "the next Jonah" so soon can only be disruptive and damaging for his progression. Suddenly the expectations are massive and he's got the weight of Jonahs legacy on his shoulders. Big highs come with equally as big lows. What happens when he inevitably slips up?
I think it's great he's doing so well, but we need to be careful of our expectations of him as a player. He's still young, he's still developing. He only has 2 caps. Give him 20 caps, then maybe we can assess things differently. One strong performance does not a Lomu make.
If I recall correctly Julian Savea was also called the next Jonah at one point. We all saw what happened to him. I just think we need to be careful labeling young players who are flavour of the month as the next icon of the sport when they've only played 2 tests. Looking forward to seeing how he progresses and I hope he takes all the accolades on his chin and doesn't let it get to him too much.
Jonah was diagnosed with kidney disease in 1995; during his peak at ONLY AGE 20.
By the start of the 2000s and by only age 25 we'd seen a decline in his play.
If he'd never had this disease, how would we have thought of him then in relation to the greatest rugby players and athletes of all time, and how would he be thought about now?
Might be be considered the greatest ever as early as the 2003 World Cup (age 28)? And if he'd played for the All Blacks until 2007, might be be thought about as one of the greatest athletes who'd ever lived?
Is there any chance that his athletic dominance might have made even the USA start being interested in his career, and rugby union in general? He had the upmost natural athletic ability. And regardless of what sports you follow, that's something that people love to see.
Just watched a highlight reel of Jonah destroying England at 1995 world cup, it finished by saying he was rugby’s first global superstar.
I then remembered the haircut he had and how many of my friends then adopted it at my school when everyone returned from the holidays. Bunch of pasty scottish kids running around shouting Lomuuuuuuu.
Good times.
Needing 2 to equal them, the coming game vs Uruguay could see him make the jump
