Jonah Lomu: Rugby union player who scattered hapless opponents with his combination of power, speed and agility

It may not be entirely justifiable to describe Jonah Lomu as rugby union's first global superstar, as it is doubtful he achieved the transcending fame of, say, a Muhammad Ali, in the many territories where the oval-ball sport has little or no reach. It is, however, unarguable that millions of people who had no knowledge of rugby came to admire of the face and the style of the galloping giant whose try-scoring runs on the wing for New Zealand's All Blacks scattered opponents like skittles.

Within rugby union, Lomu's name became a byword for his unique combination of speed, agility and irresistible power. Until his emergence as a teenager at the Hong Kong Sevens tournament in 1994, and then spectacularly at the following year's World Cup in South Africa, there had been many players with one or other of those attributes. No one had them all. Any big wing arriving on the scene now is likely to be described as the "English Lomu", or the "Welsh Lomu", or the equivalent in their country. The original was and remains the best.

Jonah Tali Lomu was born in Auckland, New Zealand, to Tongan parents, Semisi and Hepi, and was brought up by his mother's sister on the Tongan island of Ha'apai, gambolling around on the beach, drinking coconut milk when he was thirsty and catching and roasting wild chickens when hunger struck. In a fairly typical Polynesian story, the Lomu family migrated to Auckland when he was seven, which was when he began formal schooling. He carried his passport to sporting events to spare awkward questions about his already outsized dimensions, though his selection for a rugby league trial with a youth team, the Manukau Magpies, was stymied by the trial being held on a Sunday, which contradicted his Methodist parents' religious beliefs.

The rest of Lomu's school-age upbringing was a tale of a tough, sometimes violent boy who needed to be steered away from the wrong side of the tracks in south Auckland. An uncle and a best friend were knifed to death in gang violence and Lomu – who stood 6ft and weighed 15st at the age of 13 – used his fists and his size to settle arguments. Within two hours of arriving as a boarder at Wesley College he was placed in detention for fighting.

But the comparatively well-heeled school would be Lomu's primer for a better life and sporting fame. The head teacher, Chris Grinter, gave Lomu a key to the gymnasium and directed him to take his temper out on a punchbag. The anger of the huge teenager dissipated; meanwhile, Grinter ushered Lomu into rugby union, initially as a lock forward in the pack, in which position he played for the school's first XV and, in 1991, New Zealand Under-17s. Moving to No 8, he played for New Zealand Schools in 1992 and 1993, scoring three tries for that team in two big wins over their touring England counterparts.

Lomu had no inclination to move from No 8, but his tremendous pace (reputedly running 100m in 10.8sec) and unusually nimble footwork was so evident when he played the abbreviated game of sevens for New Zealand at the 1994 Hong Kong tournament that three influential figures – the sevens captain and coach, Eric Rush and Gordon Tietjens, and the All Blacks' then coach Laurie Mains – wanted him redeployed on the wing. "Who would be capable of stopping him, if he was given room to move?" Mains observed.

At the age of 19 years and 45 days, Lomu became the youngest Test All Black when he was capped against France on 26 June 1994, and though his rawness as an international and as a wing saw him demoted after the next match, his time would come again soon. The World Cup in June 1995 – only the third such tournament staged by a sport coincidentally on the cusp of going open after a century of amateurism – was worthy of attention anyway due to being staged in the newly post-apartheid South Africa. When the just-turned 20-year-old Lomu scored two tries in the All Black's opening pool match against Ireland – only his third cap – and another five in the quarter- and semi-finals with Scotland and England, both he and the World Cup achieved unprecedented publicity.

Millions of television viewers in the UK watched astonished on a Sunday afternoon when Lomu scored four tries against England, swatting or tossing the averagely sized Tony Underwood and Rob Andrew from his path and simply running over the full-back Mike Catt. The popular England captain, Will Carling, described this colossus with the sprinter's feet as "a freak".

Though South Africa's defensively astute gang-tackling kept Lomu quiet in the final, which New Zealand lost 15-12, he would reprise his inimitable scoring style at the 1999 World Cup to set a cumulative tournament record of 15 tries. Though a knee injury waylaid him in 1996, the years from 1995 to 2002 were spent forging a reputation of being able to win a match almost on his own, though as a humble exponent of a quintessential team sport he would never make such a claim for himself.

Managed and advised off the field by a Welsh rugby coach resident in New Zealand, Phil Kingsley Jones, Lomu made a good living from endorsing sporting and other products. A video game, Jonah Lomu Rugby, appeared in 1997, though more outlandish projects, such as a part as a villain in a James Bond film or a switch to American football in the NFL, never materialised.

And yet the most extraordinary aspect to Lomu's life emerged only slowly. As he prepared to make his comeback from injury in 1997 it was discovered that he had been suffering from nephrotic syndrome, a debilitating kidney disorder. Its side effects, including bloating and loss of energy, affected Lomu's ability to play (and had probably always done so), and he also needed drugs not permitted by his sport.

In 2004 Lomu received a kidney transplant from a New Zealand radio presenter. So ensued a frustrating latter half of his career in which he was unable to take part in a third World Cup or add to his 37 tries and 63 Tests, and was consigned instead to a lingering retreat from the top level, appearing for North Harbour, Cardiff Blues and the third division French club, Marseilles Vitrolles.

At the same time Lomu, having been married and divorced twice, grew into a more confident and personable public speaker. He worked for sponsors and the International Rugby Board to popularise the game he loved and canvass successfully for the admission of rugby sevens to the 2016 Olympic Games. He was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the Queen's Birthday Honours in 2007, and was a central figure – cast aptly as a guiding light to a child attempting to score an audacious try – during the opening ceremony of the seventh Rugby World Cup in September 2011. The ceremony was staged in Auckland, back where it had all begun.

In 2011 his body rejected his new kidney and he continued to need dialysis. He was waiting for a new kidney when he died. He leaves two young sons with his third wife, Nadene.

Jonah Tali Lomu, rugby union player: born Pukekohe, Auckland, New Zealand 12 May 1975; married 1996 Tanya Rutter (marriage dissolved), 2003 Fiona (divorced 2008), thirdly Nadene Quirk (two sons); died Auckland 18 November 2015.