Jonah Lomu is on track to make his long-awaited Cardiff Blues debut on Saturday after coming through his first week of tough contact training in six months.
Barring any unexpected setbacks this week, the 30-year-old former All Black, battling back from a rare kidney disease, will be in a 22-man squad to face Italian outfit Calvisano in the Heineken European Cup.
It will be Lomu’s first match since June and Blues coach David Young revealed the giant winger was desperate to get back into action.
”He wants to get out there as soon as possible,” Young said.
”But we aren’t going to fast-track him. If we don’t feel he is in a position to do himself justice, he won’t want to play himself.
”It’s something we have to monitor throughout the week. But he is coming through contact training and he is doing extra conditioning because he has been out for a while.
”I see him playing some part on Saturday as long as he comes through training.”
Lomu is hoping to resurrect a career which saw him become the sport’s biggest star at 19 when he was player of the tournament at the 1995 World Cup.
The following year he was struck down by illness that forced him to have a kidney transplant.
He made a comeback in England World Cup-winning captain Martin Johnson’s testimonial match at Twickenham in June but injured a shoulder and has been out since then.
Lomu, who scored 37 tries in 66 Tests, made his last international appearance for the All Blacks three years ago against Wales at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium.
After his spell with Cardiff, he plans to return to New Zealand next year with a view to securing an NPC and Super 14 contract and ultimately playing once more for the All Blacks. – AFP
