Anger Within is a documentary that presents one of the great rugby icons, Jonah Lomu, as a wandering youth, a precocious young talent, a world-beating winger and a man fighting a debilitating illness.
French motion picture production company 1892 Corp have teamed up with Eleven AM and the IRB to make a film that meets a long-standing need of rugby’s – telling the stories of its stars well and explaining the humanity and ethos of those who play the game.
This film opens with the present day Jonah Lomu getting in the car and saying, without any other orientation, “When it starts getting tough… I start thinking about my two boys, my wife and that gives me a bit of reality again and wanting to live a bit longer. It’s tough though.”
Soon after finishing a short monologue, giving the viewer insight into the love-hate relationship with life which defines the man that is Lomu, the car pulls up to a parking spot with a sign ominously pointing the way forward – ‘Reserve parking dialysis’.
From here, interviews with Lomu himself and key players in his life including rugby stars direct the way through his life.
Names like Phil Kinsley Jones, Eric Rush, Gordon Tietjens, Marc Lievremont, George Gregan, Sean Fitzpatrick, Philippe Sella and Zinzan Brooke frame the film with their views on the various highs and lows of Lomu’s life and career.
The absence of a narrator guiding the story means you end up connecting with the energy and stories the various characters bring to Anger Within.
The beginning is dedicated to explaining Lomu’s disjointed upbringing – he lived for six years with his aunty in Tonga, thinking she was his mother during that time.
His father was a violent alcoholic and Jonah’s subsequent time spent on the streets of South Auckland in a blood-thirsty environment saw his uncle brutally murdered while he was young.
The complex feelings Lomu holds towards his father’s behaviour and his upbringing in general are summarised when he says, “That was one of my biggest drivers, to get through things, you know?
“When I was playing and I found it hard you know, I thought of my father. And that got my through it, that anger got me through it.
“I spent most of my life fighting with that, fighting with that inside me.”
That sort of pain is evident on Lomu’s face throughout the entire documentary. Sometimes discussing his up-brining, sometimes his illness and, at other times, his performances on the field.
That inner turmoil, as indicated by the title, has been there since he was young and is still under the surface.
Lomu describes the people he was spending time with in South Auckland as “either six feet under the ground or, if not, they’re in jail.”
It was to protect Lomu from that environment that his mother, Hapi Lomu, pleaded with Wesley College to accept him into boarding school.
It was at Wesley College that Lomu started playing rugby, while also sneakily continuing to play rugby league for a time, as is common in South Auckland.
Starting a remarkable string of ‘youngest achievements’, Lomu was the youngest person to make Wesley College First XV, in fourth form (year 10) as a second row.
The next achievement was entering the Test arena for the All Blacks as the youngest man to do so, at 19 years 45 days old.
The documentary shows footage of a young Lomu, wearing seven or eight, ripping school-boy defences apart at Wesley College.
It shows his devastating ability on the Sevens field under the tutorship of Teitjens and some of his greatest moments at the 1995 and 1999 Rugby World Cups, wearing number 11 by then.
As well as being a fairly thorough biopic of Lomu’s life, the documentary also gives some strong insights into what it is like to be part of the All Blacks family. And it is a family.
One story recounts Lomu struggling to be fit enough to play for the All Blacks – due to his illness, but that wasn’t known yet – unable to complete a running drill at training and lagging behind the rest of the team, who had already finished.
Eric Rush came up alongside him and starting running as well, yelling and abusing him to continue. After Lomu wheezed down the field on the 19th lap of 20, Sean Fitzpatrick took off to run with him as well. Then Zinzan Brooke joined them and others started running, encouraging Lomu to keep going.
It was a moment the rest of the unit decided they wanted this young man in the group, struggling or not, and would do their part to ensure he was accepted into the fold and was as successful as possible.
Even though he had huge success at the 1995 World Cup, where he became the global star of the sport, and in 1999, when he was one of the best players, despite New Zealand losing, Lomu’s career is always going to be covered in ‘what ifs’ because of the kidney disorder nephrotic syndrome.
As images of the All Blacks losing the 1999 World Cup semi-final to France dissipate, Lomu is philosophical as he reflects on the loss, “You win some and you lose some. Some are more important than others. But, you know, as an All Black you want to win every game.”
And in a wonderful piece of direction by the creators, the next scene is the doctor that performed Lomu’s kidney transplant describing the reality of his existence for the rest of his life.
Lomu’s reflection of winning some and losing some is true of more than just his playing career.
He now has a wife and two young children he wasn’t supposed to be able to have, but that is offset by the reality he needs to continue dialysis, even after his short comeback, to stay alive.
This documentary is quality story-telling, something that has been sorely missing from the culture of rugby in recent times.
And it’s perhaps poignant a French company is the backer for a revealing film about New Zealand’s most captivating export on the world stage.
Lomu is revered greatly overseas and hopefully this delicate and sometimes extremely touching insight into the man gives his compatriots a chance to remember what a special man he is.
The highs and lows of life have made Jonah Lomu very aware of his mortality and his place in the world.
He’s not shy about his achievements in the game, but he is quick to put them in balance with the rest of his life.
Near the end of the film Lomu opens up and says, “At the end of the game, life was the winner, because your rugby career is only short and your life is longer and how you live is still in the spirit of rugby.”
If there was a lesson to be learnt, I think he has found it and learnt it, despite all the anger within.
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.
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