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Lomu set to play second division
TAWA, New Zealand (AP) -- The small community of Tawa -- a sleeper suburb just down the road from Wellington off State Highway One -- will likely never see another day like it. At 3 p.m. Saturday, a few hours before the All Blacks play Samoa at Auckland's modern North Harbour Stadium, Jonah Lomu -- the world's most famous and valuable rugby player -- will run from a spartan dressing shed on to Tawa's Lyndhurst Park. Lomu, who has a multimillion dollar income from his contract with the New Zealand rugby union and a host of product endorsements, has been dropped from the All Black team to play Samoa. Instead, he'll be at Lyndhurst Park in a second division club match between Wainuiomata and the Tawa Rugby Club. Lyndhurst Park is a typical New Zealand suburban rugby ground. It has no actual grandstand, although it boasts metal spars and wooden planks which might seat, at a pinch, 50 slim spectators. The ground is nestled in a flattened bowl on the ridge of a wooded hill. A limpid stream runs close to one sideline and ballboys -- generally junior members of the Tawa club -- are forced several times during a match to plunge in up to their knees to retrieve balls kicked out of play. The Tawa clubrooms, a two-level structure of brick and weatherboard, occupies one corner of the ground, the lower floor taken up by the dressing rooms and a sawdust gymnasium. Lomu will find that the dressing rooms are bare and cold, concrete-floored and perennially damp in winter. Low wooden benches provide the only concession to player comfort, a far cry from the surroundings Lomu has come to know. His appearance Saturday in the green and black-hooped guernsey of the Wainuiomata club could hardly mark a greater transformation, but local rugby officials are ready for it. The Wellington Rugby Union, preparing for an influx of perhaps several thousand spectators, has provided four bodyguards to protest the big man and a fence has been erected to keep back fans. He will be marked on Saturday by Tawa wing Anthony Antoni, who has to pit his 90 kilogram (198-pound) frame against Lomu's 119 kilograms (262 pounds). Lomu has played only one game for Wainuiomata -- two seasons ago in another second division competition. He trained for 90 minutes with his new teammates Thursday night at another lonely suburban ground and in front of 100 spectators. Lomu's omission from the All Black team for Saturday's test has caused controversy within New Zealand. Only All Black coach Wayne Smith, who made the decision to play Jeff Wilson in Lomu's place on New Zealand's left wing, seems surprised at the furore. Smith has insisted there is "nothing sinister" in Lomu's omission and no connection between his ousting and negotiations which will start shortly over his future in New Zealand rugby. His contract with the New Zealand rugby union expires in November. The controversy over his non-selection intensified midweek when Lomu's manager, Welshman Phil Kingsley-Jones, public contradicted Smith's explanation of his axing. Smith said Lomu had missed the early stages of an All Black training camp while playing for the Barbarians in Britain, but Kingsley-Jones said Lomu had specifically tailored his schedule to meet the demands of the All Black coaches. Publicly, Lomu was diplomatic. "It's a professional era and it's a professional sport," he said. "I'm still behind on certain things, certain tactics and I'm working hard on those."
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