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| davrosG5 wrote: That's terribly sad. I hadn't realised he'd been ill. 40s no age at all. | |
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True. He suffered from an (I believe) congenital kidney defect, which makes his achievements all the more remarkable.
This is so, so sad. I saw the '95 semi final where he basically redesigned the game of rugby union single handedly on the pitch in 80 minutes. I doubt there's been a more seminal moment in the sport's history since Webb Ellis first decided picking the ball up was the easier option and I doubt there've been all that many as seminal moments in sports at all. when England came off they weren't just defeated, they were in shock. They simply didn't know what had hit them.
He was the first genuine rugby superstar - the first rugby player people who didn't know about rugby knew about. And apparently also a wonderful man of great and noble character with it. Such a combination is rare and precious. Compare with the prancing idiot that is Christiano Ronaldo, for example.
As the saying goes "The light that burns twice as bright burns half as long and you have burned so very, very brightly".
