Street dedicated to Jonah Lomu
The late great All Blacks rugby left-winger Jonah Lomu has had a street named after him.
The road, Jonah Lomu Drive, was opened at a ceremony Wednesday afternoon attended by his family members.
The first street to be named in a new residential development area in Paerata, it was blessed by a Methodist Church minister, kaumatua and members of Tainui.
Jonah Lomu Drive is in the Paerata Rise development, which will be home to more than 4500 houses in the future.
Lomu, a father of two, died in 2015 aged 40 after ongoing complications with his kidneys, the rare condition Nephrotic syndrome.
The Franklin Local Board approved the street name of Jonah Lomu Drive in May last year.
It’s one of 14 roads to be created for stages one to three in the Wesley Town Special Housing Area.
Lomu attended the nearby Wesley College as a secondary school student.
Paerata Rise is being developed by Grafton Downs. Its executive director Chris Johnston said a street sign for Jonah Lomu Drive was yet to be put up. ‘‘It’s still a closed construction site.’’
‘‘It’s important in Methodist Church protocols to have a blessing,’’ Johnston said. ‘‘We’re about to build a boulevard of show homes, so the protocol is we needed to have a blessing of the place where the show homes are about to be built.’’
He said the sign will be unveiled at the opening of the show homes in early December.
Lomu’s mother Hepi and brother John were at the street opening on Wednesday, along with his wife Nadine, his two children, and Nadine’s parents, Johnston said adding the family ‘‘gave us approval’’ to have his name adorning Jonah Lomu Drive.
‘‘We wanted to keep it low key. They walked us down Jonah Lomu Drive to a point in the middle of the road.
‘‘The reverend did a blessing, I did a speech. [Then] we went up to Wesley College’s dining room and had afternoon tea.’’
Johnston says it was a very special occasion and to look up and see Lomu’s name on the college’s honour’s board ‘‘five times’’, and to see he was sports dux three years in a row. ‘‘I think he was in the First XV as a fourth former.’’
In 1994, at the age of 19 years and 45 days, Lomu became the youngest All Blacks test player in 89 years when making his international debut against France.
He played 63 tests for New Zealand, scoring 37 tries, and is regarded as one of world rugby’s playing legends.