Jonah Lomu

Jonah Lomu, who represented New Zealand 63 times and became the most recognisable figure in world rugby, has died aged 40 in Auckland.

Tonga's Sports Minister Fe'ao Vakata says he brought great pride to the islands.

"Even people here in Tonga have named their children after Jonah Lomu and everybody has been saying they are related to Jonah Lomu. That's how much we are proud and appreciated what he had given Tonga and New Zealand and world rugby," he said

Vakata will bring up how to mark Lomu's death at Friday's cabinet meeting.

Lomu, who scored 43 tries and played 63 Tests for New Zealand between 1994 and 2002, was diagnosed with a serious kidney condition while still playing.

It forced him to quit the game and he had a kidney transplant in 2004, but it stopped functioning in 2011.

In 2011 he was a teenager who had left Tonga's Ha'apai islands the previous year to take up a scholarship at Wesley College in Pukekohe.

Though he was already dreaming of following in the footsteps of Wesley's most famous Tongan rugby player Jonah Lomu, Fekitoa said it was the 2011 World Cup that cemented his goal to become an All Black.

"I couldn't afford tickets to the games, but I still watched every game," Fekitoa said on Monday.