Lomu to make NPC return

2006-07-19 07:21

Wellington - Former All Blacks winger Jonah Lomu was named on Tuesday to play for North Harbour in New Zealand's national provincial rugby championship, starting in late July.

Lomu, 31, underwent a kidney transplant last year after suffering renal failure as the result of a prolonged illness.

He battled back to health and played for the Welsh club Cardiff over the last northern winter before breaking his ankle in April.

Lomu played for 30 minutes in an Auckland club match last weekend, his first appearance in New Zealand in almost three years. His stated ambition remains to play for New Zealand at the 2007 World Cup.

Lomu played 63 tests for the All Blacks and was regarded as one of the world's most devastating attacking players before he was sidelined by illness. He received daily dialysis for almost a year before a donor kidney became available.

- SAPA