Less than three weeks after the All Blacks emerged triumphant at rugby's most successful World Cup, the sport was plunged into mourning following the untimely death of one its favourite sons, Jonah Lomu, who passed away on Wednesday at the age of 40.
Although Lomu never managed to get his hands on the Webb Ellis Cup, no-one contributed more to the tournament's ongoing ascendancy than the giant New Zealand winger, who became the sport's first truly global superstar.
Millions who had never watched or followed rugby, were captivated by Lomu, a seemingly unstoppable force of nature who burst on to the international stage at the 1995 World Cup in South Africa.
New Zealand would go on to lose to the Springboks in a hard-fought final but Lomu's impact at that tournament had changed the game forever.
An imposing mountain of a man with speed to burn, he single-handedly destroyed opposition defences, scoring seven tries in the tournament and creating a template for future wingers and the need for new defensive patterns.
He scored four times in the semi-final against England, famously trampling over fullback Mike Catt for his first touchdown and every time he got the ball, the crowd rose to their feet in anticipation as he set off in full-flight and swatted aside opposing players.
Then, in one of the most poignant rugby matches ever played, Lomu was thwarted by a South African team that gang-tackled him, inspired by Nelson Mandela and his vision for the new rainbow nation.
Hollywood made a movie about the Springboks' win that came just a year after the end of apartheid, entitled “Invictus”. Such was the universal admiration of Lomu that not even the scriptwriters could cast him as the villain to Mandela's dreams of uniting his country.