New Zealand
Fans defy rain and transport issues to pay tribute to Jonah Lomu
AAP
November 30, 2015
© Hannah Peters/Getty Images

Eden Park was a stadium where tens of thousands of people cheered Jonah Lomu's name, but it was with a deafening silence that he took centre stage at the venue one last time.

The crowd of thousands stood in silence as the All Blacks legend's casket was brought to the stage at a final goodbye at the Auckland venue, and the first prayer sent a chilling boom across the arena.

A light drizzle broke minutes before the start of the ceremony, light peering in through the cloud like clockwork.

As tributes were played from Prime Minister John Key and from around the world, some in the crowd, largely dressed in black, carrying little black 11 flags, visibly choked back years.

The crowd in the stands at Eden Park was also global.

Dressed in All Blacks shirts, two young women with French accents say they're from Perpignan and felt they had to come while visiting New Zealand.

"Jonah is a legend where we come from," Johanna Bouyssou says. "It's very important."

Before they can finish, the man sitting in front of them pipes up: "Oh. We're from Ireland and Wales," he says.

Julie and Neil Olausen have come from the UK and interrupt their trip in Australia to attend Monday's memorial.

"As a rugby fan, it would have been wrong not to come," Neil says. "I still remember that game against England where he where he just went over Mike Catt."

Hours earlier, attendees had already begun pouring in, despite clouds and problems with Auckland's train system.

Among them, them Ula Chowdhury, who waits in the front row of the stands waving a huge All Blacks flag, dressed in the same black and silver, including a hat of black flowers. She arrived two hours early to say goodbye one last time to one of rugby's greatest stars.

The avid rugby fan has come out from Manukau and attended Saturday's Pacific community service as well, but says the stadium is a fitting place for a final send-off.

"I came and cheered for him when he played from the Blues and the national team," she says.

© AAP

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