Koko Lists
Start a new list
Log in
Sign up
← New random battle
Koko Battle
Tap your pick.
Jonah Lomu
Jonah Lomu made his All Blacks debut in 1994 at 19, the youngest player ever to represent New Zealand in international rugby at the time, and became the sport's first true global superstar the following year at the 1995 Rugby World Cup in South Africa, where his combination of size — 6-foot-5, roughly 260 pounds — and sprinter's speed overwhelmed defenses that had never faced a wing with that physical profile before. His semifinal performance against England at that tournament is still regarded as one of the single greatest individual displays in rugby history — Lomu scored four tries, including a run in which he simply ran over England fullback Mike Catt rather than around him, a moment replayed so often it's become shorthand for the entire 1995 World Cup. Lomu finished his international career with 37 tries in 63 tests for New Zealand, remarkable output for a winger playing against defenses that specifically game-planned around stopping him, and his combination of power and pace is widely credited with permanently changing how rugby unions recruited and trained wingers going forward. Lomu's career was cut short by a rare kidney disorder, nephrotic syndrome, diagnosed in 1995, the same year as his breakout World Cup, which eventually required a kidney transplant in 2004. He died in 2015 at 40 from a heart attack related to the condition, a loss the rugby world marked as the death of the player most responsible for turning the sport into a global television spectacle.
VS
Martin Johnson
Martin Johnson captained England to the 2003 Rugby World Cup title, the only time an England men's team has won the tournament, anchoring the pack as a lock forward known for a physical, uncompromising style that set the tone for the entire team around him. Johnson is the only player to have captained two separate British & Irish Lions tours, in 1997 to South Africa and 2001 to Australia, winning the series in 1997 — a rare honor reflecting how consistently he was trusted to lead a composite team built from four different national rugby unions. His leadership style was built around physical presence and demanding standards rather than vocal motivation, and teammates across both his England and Lions careers consistently described his mere presence in a lineup as raising the intensity of everyone playing alongside him. Johnson later moved into coaching, taking over as England's team manager from 2008 to 2011, a tenure that didn't replicate his playing success but that reflected how central he'd remained to English rugby even after retiring — a career that, between two World Cup-era captaincies and two Lions tours, is still the standard other England forwards are measured against.
Next battle
Full comparison
About Jonah Lomu
About Martin Johnson
Popular Battles
1984 vs. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
1 votes
Friends vs. Curb Your Enthusiasm
1 votes
Ideogram vs. Sora
1 votes
Navy Pier vs. Bishop Museum
1 votes
Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree vs. Skittles
1 votes
George Carlin vs. Oprah Winfrey
1 votes
