Jonah Debut Delayed
Jonah Lomu
By Andrew Collins
November 30 2005
Dai Young has announced that International rugby superstar, Jonah Lomu, will not feature in Sundays match against London Irish. Instead, it is expected he will feature on the bench for the Calvasano away leg, but will start for the return fixture on the 17th.
The Kiwi, who is at the Arms Park tomorrow night for a 'meet the new boys' evening, is eligeable to play for the Blues as squads do not have to regester players for the Anglo-Welsh cup. However, it has now been confirmed he will not even merit a bench spot.
Young said,
"He (Jonah) won't be involved on Sunday, but he might be ready for next week and if he doesn't make the first Calvisano game, he'll definitely make the second one."
It further suggests reports that his debut will be at the Arms Park, with it likely he'll command a bench spot in the away match against Calvasano. However, he would only make his long awaited return if needed with the Blues losing or winning without scoring 4 tries.
From a commericial side, the Lomu deal is massive, with it bound to bring in thousands of extra supporters keen to catch a glimpse of the legend, but with Lomu having just 7 months here, others argue he must play as much as he can in the time he has.
Another aruament is that the main bulk of Lomu's wage will be on a pay-as-you-play basis, and so with the Blues already out of the Anglo-Welsh, it would be a waste of money putting him into this meaningless match.
Whatever your opinion, the fact remians, Jonah Lomu and Blues fans will have to wait a little longer until the big man is back on the pitch doing what he does best.
In other news, the team for Sundays match is set to be announced on Thursday, with Dai having the bulk of his squad available for selection. But don't expect the big name stars to feature, the Welsh internationals will all be rested, with the exception of Sowden-Taylor, Andy Powell and Chris Czekaj as only Robin featured for Wales as a substitute against New Zealand.
The team is expected to include a fully fit Dean Dewdney but will have few changes to the side that lost to Munster at the Arms Park.
Finally, there are still tickets available for the 'Meet the New Boys' night at the Arms park clubhouse tomorrow evening. All the new players will be there including Jonah Lomu, tickets are free, see the link below for more information.