BREAKING: All Blacks Legend Jonah Lomu Dies Aged 40

All Blacks legend Jonah Lomu has passed away in Auckland today at the age of 40.

Former All Blacks doctor John Mayhew confirmed Lomu had died unexpectedly this morning.

The All Blacks great was still suffering from the rare kidney disorder known as nephrotic syndrome that began to make itself apparent even when he was making global headlines steamrolling England into submission at the 1995 Rugby World Cup and afterwards.

Lomu had a kidney transplant in 2004 which assisted his battle for seven and a half years. But his body rejected the replacement organ in 2011.

He had recently been in England for the with his family as a spokesman for Heineken during the Rugby World Cup.

Lomu made 73 appearances for the All Blacks, making his Test debut in 1994 against France in Christchurch.

Lomu scored 43 tries in the black jersey, before having to quit the sport in 2002 because of Nephrotic syndrome, a rare kidney disease.

He suffered a health scare in 2011, pulling out of the Fight for Life charity boxing event with kidney troubles, just seven years after his life-saving kidney transplant.

Lomu spent the last couple of months touring the UK with his family for the Rugby World Cup.

"By the end of it I'll have learnt the ins and outs of every clinic in the country," he joked to the London Telegraph.

"I am thankful that I have a beautiful wife and the kids are here. Nadine makes sure that my family stays together.

"She is my manager, my wife, my best friend and my boss!"

He hoped that his children would get a special insight into the game where their father made his name.

"It's a game that has given me so much and it's an opportunity to show them what their dad used to do," he told the Daily Express. "They love their rugby."

- NZ Herald