Lomu snubs new Kiwi deal

Jonah Lomu’s New Zealand rugby career looks to be at an end after it was revealed today he had rejected the offer of a one-year deal from the New Zealand Rugby Union.

The 5pm deadline for playing in next season’s Super 12 passed today with Lomu having failed to sign the tabled offer.

Lomu’s manager Phil Kingsley-Jones said the offer was derisory and claimed the NZRFU had “dumped him“.

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.”

His present deal ends after the World Cup and NZRFU deputy chief executive Steve Tew said the deadline for re-signing was today to allow Super 12 coaches the chance to prepare their sides.

The NZRU offered Lomu a new contract, subject to his health, but Tew confirmed it was rejected 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,” Tew told the Press Association.

“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.”

Lomu has to undergo kidney dialysis treatment three times a week and was forced to abort an attempted comeback for his province Wellington last month.

Any rugby future for Lomu would now appear be overseas.