How Springboks brought down the Black rhino

THE UNIMAGINABLE hap - pened . The Springboks brought down the rhino. In the end Jonah Lomu, the most powerful running force in rugby, could not rescue the World Cup for New Zealand. Lomu was left frustrated and try-less out on his wing. He never escaped the South Af - rican defence. "We just could not get the ball to him as often as we had planned," Sean Fitzpatrick, the AU Blacks captain, said. Yet it was not so much the tactical policy as the final touches that were lacking. Earlier in the tournament, and

against the outpaced England defence, the sheer alacrity of New Zealand's back play had launched Lomu in acres of space and with perfect passes. Yesterday, those fine touches to the man-mountain that crushed England were absent There was also, of course, the fact that his publicity and his achievements finally caught up with him. He was made the prime target for the South African defence, and a great roar went around the stadium every time he was stopped. Kitch Christie, the South Africa coach, said: "We got on to him before he had the

Stephen Jones explains why Jonah Lomu failed to deliver in the World Cup final chance to pick up speed and if the first man missed him, then it was an absolute imperative that the second nailed him." There was also the problem that the tournament finally caught up with him. His meteoric rise could not con - tinue at the same rate and his occasional hesitancy betrayed a lack of experience. However, if Lomu failed on the day then it was a failure only by his extraordinary stan - dards . He may not have scored the usual hatful of...