RUGBY: All Black winger Jonah Lomu said yesterday he was "ready to go" in his bid for selection for this year's World Cup despite his low-key return to action for Wellington on Saturday.

Lomu played 40 minutes against Taranaki in a National Provincial Championship warm-up match but touched the ball only three times and made one tackle as his side lost 27-17.

The big winger, who has been sidelined with a recurrence of the kidney complaint, nephrotic syndrome, which requires three days of dialysis a week, still hopes to play in the World Cup which begins on October 10th.

"The World Cup's there. That's everybody's ultimate goal. I know I've got a fair bit to work on," Lomu said. "But NPC starts next week and that's really when everybody wants to be firing on all cylinders. I'm ready to go."