THE rugby world is mourning the death of All Blacks legend Jonah Lomu, who has died at the age of 40 in Auckland. Lomu quit the sport in 2002 after 63 games for the All Blacks because of Nephrotic syndrome, a rare kidney disease. He has been on dialysis treatment for more than a decade.

He had recently been in the United Kingdom to attend the Rugby World Cup and posted photographs of himself in Dubai to his Twitter account.

Lomu scored 37 tries in 63 Tests and is regarded as one of New Zealand's greatest wingers. His spectacular performances at the 1995 Rugby World Cup made him one of the sport's most recognisable global figures. He jointly holds the record for most tries in World Cup history alongside South Africa's Bryan Habana, who drew level with him at the 2015 tournament.

Lomu burst on the international scene at the 1994 Hong Kong Sevens. He debuted for the All Blacks at age 19 in 1994 before stunning the world at the 1995 World Cup. Lomu scored seven tries at the tournament, including four in a semifinal against England. He played for several domestic teams, including the Auckland Blues, Chiefs and Hurricanes, and Counties Manukau, Wellington and later North Harbour and Cardiff Blues. He made a comeback after undergoing a kidney transplant in 2004.

Lomu's passing was felt deeply in his home country. Current and former All Blacks, politicians and other celebrities sent their messages of honour. "We're all shocked and deeply saddened at the sudden death of Jonah Lomu", New Zealand Rugby CEO Steve Tew wrote. "We're lost for words and our heartfelt sympathies go out to Jonah's family. Jonah was a legend of our game and loved by his many fans both here and around the world."

Lomu inflicted plenty of damage on the Wallabies during his career but that didn't stop many Australian players offering their respect.

Former captain George Gregan was completely shocked by the news after seeing Lomu in good spirits at various events in recent years. "He just had that sparkle and look of life in him" Gregan told Fox Sports Australia. Gregan had firsthand knowledge of how hard it was to bring down the All Black winger in full flight. "I've got scar tissue in my hamstring from where he ran over me at a game at Canberra Stadium", Gregan said. When I told him about it years later he said "Don't worry, bro, you should have just got out of my way."

Israel Folau, Lote Tuqiri, Tim Horan, Drew Mitchell and James O'Connor were other Aussie players to post on Twitter.