All Blacks coach John Mitchell tonight paid tribute to the career of Jonah Lomu after it was revealed he had rejected the offer of a new one-year deal from the New Zealand Rugby Union.
Lomu had until today to agree a new contract but his manager Phil Kingsley-Jones said the offer on the table was derisory and the 5 p.m. deadline passed without the deal being signed.
The offer was subject to Lomu, who has to undergo kidney dialysis treatment three times a week, being fit and cleared to play. Any future Lomu has in playing the game would now seemingly be overseas but Mitchell believes it is important he remains involved with the sport.
"We feel for Jonah with his illness," said Mitchell. "He had a wonderful gift to play rugby and it is sad to see that he can't continue to fulfil that gift that he does have.
"He is a special man. He has wonderful qualities. He has grown through being an All Black and I am sure he will offer the game a lot more. He is a wonderful ambassador for the game and let's hope we don't lose him from that role."
NZRU deputy chief executive Steve Tew confirmed that Lomu had rejected the offer for financial reasons.
"It was money. We put our best offer on the table but I think he has more important things on his mind than signing a new contract," he said. "We put an offer on the table that has been rejected. We offered a contract depending on whether he was well enough and cleared to play."
Tew went on to deny Kingsley-Jones' claims that Lomu had been "dumped".
He insisted on www.allblacks.com: "Jonah has been huge for New Zealand rugby and the All Blacks and no one undervalues that, least of all the New Zealand union.
"We have really appreciated his loyalty to New Zealand rugby and his dedication to the All Blacks jersey personifies what the All Blacks are all about."
But Tew's compliments are unlikely to be enough to calm a furious Kingsley-Jones. He told the Holmes television show in New Zealand: "I was embarrassed to show Jonah the offer. I can only imagine how he felt.
"All Jonah wanted was a six-month extension. If by May next year he still wasn't right, he'd walk away. But they've dumped him."
Lomu was forced to abort an attempted comeback for his province Wellington last month but remains determined to play the game that turned him into a world sporting star.