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Joe Cokanasiga opens up about bold 'Lomu' tag
By Online Editors
Blockbusting England wing Joe Cokanasiga has responded to calls that he shapes as the next Jonah Lomu after a dominant performance against Australia two weeks ago.
The 21-year-old has scored two tries in his first two tests, including a memorable run over the top of Wallabies opposite Dane Haylett-Petty.
At 1.93m tall and 118kg Cokanasiga almost matches the late Lomu for size, with his blistering speed aiding the flattering comparison.
Fijian-born Cokanasiga has previously cited Lomu and former All Black Julian Savea as sources of inspiration.
He recently opened up to The Times the comparisons to Lomu that he had drawn, saying it's "hard because a lot of pressure comes with it".
"Lomu was one of the greatest players of the game and I'm definitely nowhere near that. The game has changed too. You can't do what he did, the way he manhandled people, because lots of wings are bigger than me now.
"For me it's about being smart rather than relying on size. Eddie [Jones] said Lomu nearly won a World Cup and, right now, I'm nowhere near that."
England head coach Eddie Jones also dismissed Cokanasiga's Lomu label, telling media the young winger is still wearing "training pants".
"I tell you what Lomu did," Jones added. "He nearly won a World Cup for New Zealand. When Joe nearly wins a World Cup for us he won't be good enough because he has to win a World Cup for us.
"Then you can start talking about Lomu."
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After you. And yes, that's exactly what Penney should do. Stat!! Unfortunately he has one year left on his contract.
Penney's Super Rugby win record was a low 23% before we signed him on. At the top was Razor at 84%. And true to form, Penney took us from a 7-peat to not even making the play-offs in ONE season. No excuses. LOSER. Thank God his contract is up next year. And hopefully Rangi might wanna throw his hat in for the job.
In the meantime, hopefully we can crack the top 6 this year in spite of Penney!??!
Go to comments"exceptional as usual" haha I'll take that to mean he kicked how he 'usually' kicked?
Why was Dmac rated a 6, did he not actually do any better or did he come on at fb or something?
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