17 December 2024 17:35
Reading Time: 4 mins
Jonah Lomu remains arguably the most influential rugby player of all time and the impact he had on Josh Navidi was bigger than most.
The sport’s first truly global superstar, Lomu made his name swatting aside defenders for the All Blacks in the 90s, rewriting World Cup record books and etching his place in rugby history.
He was still only 30 when he moved over to Wales for a season playing for Cardiff, and it was during that time that his path crossed with Navidi.
The flanker, still at Brynteg school in Bridgend at the time, got the chance to meet Lomu and fellow All Black great Christian Cullen at Bridgend Rugby Club.
And it was that meeting that led to him upping sticks and flying across the world to try out something completely different, with Lomu convincing Navidi’s dad that he had to travel to New Zealand.
For Navidi senior, who had moved over to Wales from Iran during the revolution in 1979, Lomu’s argument convinced him.
Navidi explained: “I was at a Q&A with Jonah Lomu and Christian Cullen at Bridgend. My dad spent half an hour talking to Jonah.
“He said you should go to New Zealand and go to Canterbury.
“So straight after my GCSEs, I flew out to New Zealand with my dad and went to Canterbury Academy.
“They said I needed to go to a college, I went to St Bede’s and was there for two seasons. In my second year, we were third in New Zealand, I met some amazing people.”
It was a transformational trip for Navidi, who had grown up immersed in rugby in Bridgend, getting over to Brewery Field to watch the likes of Rob Howley and Gareth Thomas in action.
At Brynteg, he joined a school with huge rugby pedigree, the home of British & Irish Lions legends JPR Williams and Dr Jack Matthews.
In his first year at the school, Navidi realised immediately just how important rugby was going to be in his education.
He said: “There are nine Lions who have been through Brynteg. In Year 7, the seniors played in the Welsh Cup final.
“It was Brynteg against Llandovery where Alun Wyn Jones played. That is probably the first time I saw him play.
“They call it the Rugby Factory.”
From Brynteg to New Zealand and then back again at 18, Navidi’s closest regional side was the Ospreys.
But it was Cardiff who showed a particular interest in him and that is how he ended up a one club man in the Welsh capital, making 189 appearances for the side.
He said: “I came back from New Zealand and wrote a CV, I handed one to Ospreys and one to Cardiff.
“The Ospreys said pop on down but Cardiff said we’ll have a meeting, show you everything we do. That is how I ended up in Cardiff, playing 189 games.
“To spend that at one club is pretty special.”
Even with Wales’s back-row riches, Navidi got his chance in 2013, playing in Japan while the Lions were in Australia on tour.
His first experience of Test rugby did not go to plan, injury quickly ending his debut but Navidi kept going.
Over the course of 10 years, he won 33 caps for his country including playing in every game of the 2019 Grand Slam.
Two years later, he was again part of a Championship-winning Wales side, but injury looked to have derailed his chances of playing for the Lions in South Africa.
The journey to becoming a Lion 🦁
The son of a wrestler from Iran who was raised in Wales but moved to New Zealand at 16, @Jnavidi had quite some journey into the iconic red jersey 🔴
🎬 The latest in our Lions Origin Series with @canterburyNZ. pic.twitter.com/bcjyOmxAft
— British & Irish Lions (@lionsofficial) December 17, 2024
While he missed out on initial selection, Warren Gatland told Navidi to keep working on his rehab. And when Alun Wyn Jones and Justin Tipuric were both injured in the opening game against Japan in Edinburgh, Navidi got his chance.
It meant everything.
He said: “The first game, Alun Wyn and Justin Tipuric got injured. I was at the house and got the phone call from Alan Phillips. He said: ‘Have you got your passport?’
“‘You better get your bag packed because you’ve got to meet at The Vale at 6 o’clock on the morning, you’re coming to meet the boys.’
“I was just grateful for the opportunity to be around the boys.
“I didn’t care if it was one minute or 80, just get me on that field, get me in that jersey and get me that cap. It was a special moment for me to pull that jersey on. It took me back to Bridgend and Brynteg, the pedigree that my name will always be on that board.”
Navidi announced his retirement from the game in 2023 due to injury, a remarkable journey that has taken him all over the world coming to an end.
He said: “Rugby took me to amazing places, to be a rugby player and put smiles on people’s faces over the years.
“I want to be remembered as a good bloke and a decent player.”
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