HE carried a rugby ball like you or I would carry a tennis ball.

The world lost one of its sporting icons with the tragic news the New Zealand rugby player Jonah Lomu had passed away at the age of only 40, writes Jeffrey Ball, at Brewin Dolphin, Newcastle.

The reason every youngster growing up wanted to play rugby is because they watched Jonah Lomu play. His playing weight of 18.5 stone and height of 6ft 5" remain the commentators’ benchmark for any sizeable wingers gracing screens. “He’s almost as good as Jonah,” they exclaim. Almost.

Lomu’s four-try semi-final appearance against England in the 1995 World Cup is marked as a point in history, both in rugby terms – wingers were still meant to run around people, not over - but also in terms of what professional sport could be.

1995 heralded the change of rugby union into a professional game. Prior to that, even the England team was made up of gifted amateurs relying on understanding bosses and flexible working hours to pursue their international careers.

You can see it in that try against England, the one that became a YouTube classic ten years before YouTube existed. The English players with their baggy shirts make well-meaning gestures towards tackling a razor sharp New Zealand backline who looked not dissimilar to the All Blacks we see today. No one has embodied what it is to be an All Black better than Lomu.

Rugby and other professional sports are global brands and therefore now big business. Lomu was rugby’s first international superstar. Since then, there has been a concerted effort to monetise the appeal of the sport and before this year’s event, the Rugby Football Union estimated the World Cup would earn more than £2bn.

Shareholders in ITV winced as much as the devout England fans when the host nation was knocked out early, fearing the impact it would have on advertising revenue for the rest of the tournament – fears that ultimately did not bear out, going by recent results.

Look too at how much the likes of BT and Sky now pay for broadcast rights. Many sports are now multi-million, nay billion pound packages built upon the advertising opportunities they afford.

BT, traditionally known of course for its ‘phone lines now sees significant moves in its share price when news of how many TV subscribers they have added is released. Likewise the investment case for Sky, with its hundreds of channels across all genres, has been hindered in recent years by fears of its inability to secure the sport broadcast packages it wants or the ballooning prices it has to pay.

To consider professional sport for what it is, is to remove the rose tinted glasses to better see the scowls of those that feed it. If we are honest, ultimately professional sport provides a service we pay for with the overhanging hope that the team plays well enough so we come back and pay a bit more next time.

Those who do not support a sport team are commonly perplexed by those that do. “Why do you keep going to watch, they never win and it’s always freezing” is a commonly uttered phrase in many households on a Saturday afternoon.

Fan loyalty is not a concept based on logic. It is based on love. It is based on the belonging that supporting a team gives, to the constant hope for success and aspiring for that perfect day. Let’s not worry about the fact that it will probably never happen. If we are all honest, it is the journey with other similarly attired and freezing folk that we enjoy, not the destination.

Professional sport may well line the pockets of those involved from the loyalty of its fans but we, the fans do not care. It is those that saw Jonah Lomu play and were inspired to pick up the ball and run themselves who are truly rich.

Jeffrey Ball is an assistant director at Brewin Dolphin.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily the views held throughout Brewin Dolphin Ltd. No Director, representative or employee of Brewin Dolphin Ltd accepts liability for any direct or consequential loss arising from the use of this document or its contents. Any tax allowances or thresholds mentioned are based on personal circumstances and current legislation which is subject to change.