Neil Francis article

trouttrout

The guy running at you in the photograph is instantly recognisable. I played against him once and I played with him once. The latter was far more enjoyable. In his time with the All Blacks, his body was the personification of power, pace and performance. Now his stock holds him prisoner to depression, debilitation and dialysis.

In 1995 Jonah Lomu was diagnosed with Nephrotic Syndrome – a degenerative condition affecting the kidneys. We, the unquestioning, were told it resulted from an un-named congenital condition. In 2004 Lomu received a kidney from Grant Kereama, a local Auckland DJ. If Lomu hadn't received the transplant he would have died. In 2011 the transplanted kidney started to fail and Lomu has spent long tracts in hospital interspersed with dialysis three days a week. If Lomu does not receive a new kidney soon his outlook will be bleak.

Jonah's Auckland Blues team-mate and twice-capped All Black winger Joeli Vidiri also has Nephrotic Syndrome but, unlike Lomu, did not have the benefit of a kidney transplant. Vidiri admits that he is lucky to be alive but will need a transplant soon as his health is failing.

http://www.independent.ie/sport/rugby/rugbys-obsession-with-bulk-threatening-lives-of-young-men-29165230.html

I have to say, I found this one of the most poorly written and ignorant articles to ever come out of the annals of the Indo. It also basically implies without any evidence, that creatine caused Lomuh's kidney problems.

Will do nothing to to change the ludicrous perception in Ireland that creatine is akin to steroids.

JustinDee

Some weeks ago he claimed concussion was a bleed of the brain.
He really should consult people ahead of articles like these.

opinionatedfan

clueless.

trouttrout

Worth noting that to do any damage to your kidneys using creatine you'd need to be taking a ridiculous amount (50gs a day). And taking more than 5gs a day is pointless because your body simply can't absorb anymore

thomond2006

Reads to me like he's making up stuff for the sake of it.

JustinDee

It is not the first time he has insinuated that Jonah Lomu's condition is down to performance enhancing supplements or drugs either. Testy waters at best with baseless allegations like that.

freyners

I'm hoping thats just a poor april fools joke because that article is awful

Swiwi

Its the usual crap from Francis who has a perpetual chip on his shoulder re NZ rugby. If he had done any research he would know that Polynesians make up a disproportionate number of dialysis patients in NZ due to the increased prevalence of type 2 diabetes and hypertensive kidney diseases etc. Some people can never accept Lomu was just a freakishly good player. Would love to see Francis say it to jonahs face but imagine Neil would be too yellow to do it.

Buer

Swiwi wrote: »

but imagine Neil would be too yellow to do it.

Maybe he has a kidney problem?

Swiwi

Buer wrote: »

Maybe he has a kidney problem?

It's the liver that makes you yellow but I like your thinking...

shuffol

In fairness we've all got a kidney problem

Buer

Swiwi wrote: »

It's the liver that makes you yellow but I like your thinking...

Both can actually!

Swiwi

Buer wrote: »

Both can actually!

It's a bit like shopping for paint, jaundice yellow vs uraemic lemon...not that I'm inferring that Francis is on the turps or anything...

Robbo

I seem to remember a similarly hysterical Franno on Morning Ireland about 15 years ago declaring that it was only a matter of time till Senior Cup players were going to be dying in the mud at a rate akin to the Somme due to what they were allegedly taking.

Offside

Have to laugh at him bemoaning the cramping in the last quarter of the game, surely an issue of giving your forwards a rest rather than creo induced cramping!

durkadurka

The standard you should apply for articles such as this: if the comments he made would get him banned on here then he should be regarded as a troll.

Woody1997

Offside wrote: »

Have to laugh at him bemoaning the cramping in the last quarter of the game, surely an issue of giving your forwards a rest rather than creo induced cramping!

Ye maybe they were just giving the forwards a rest! Anyway if they weren't you can't blame a schoolboy for going down with cramp in the last quarter of a schools cup final, a match they have dreamed about their entire rugby - playing life, after giving their all for their school, for going down with cramp. Francis also claimed that schoolboys should be able to go for 160 minutes( rough figure from what I can remember from the article, correc me if I'm wrong) , I think this is just a silly thing to say to be honest, at the end of a gruelling season, players who have just played a match at a near professional intensity with adhering skill levels should not be expected to be able to play fr longer just because they are younger. I have to say I usually like Francis and his articles, I believe they usually are quite good and give a good report/insight/ analysis to something, but I think he has gotten wrong on this occasion

justsomebloke

A libelous error strewn article that only goes to show just how much of an bad 'writer' he is. So closing this off as there is no point in discussing a topic where the article may just leave us open to prosecution