Lomu saw little of the ball Justin Marshall on Lomu

Jonah Lomu insists he is ready to make a late bid for New Zealand's World Cup squad despite a tentative return to action on Saturday.

The All Blacks wing played 40 minutes for provincial side Wellington in a friendly against Taranaki, touching the ball only three times and making one tackle.

Lomu is battling back from a flare-up of his career-threatening kidney illness and has needed dialysis three times a week for the past four months.

But he remains hopeful he can impress All Blacks coach John Mitchell before he announces his squad on 25 August.

"The World Cup's there," Lomu said. "That's everybody's ultimate goal.

"I know I've got a fair bit to work on but the NPC starts next week and that's really when everybody wants to be firing on all cylinders.

"I'm ready to go. I don't want to sit around in a few years time and say I had a chance and a crack at it and I didn't.

"I don't want no ifs, no buts, no nothing. If you make it you make it, if you don't you don't."

It was not a bad start and hopefully he will go from strength to strength Wellington coach John Plumtree

Lomu came off at half-time as Taranaki, leading 15-3 at the interval, went on to win 27-17.

"I just wanted to go out there and have a few other guys actually having a crack at me, getting rucked and in the thick of it," Lomu added.

"What a lot of people don't realise is that for years and years I have been playing with the problem and it's come to a head.

"Dialysis is making me feel better than I was, when I was playing."

Wellington coach John Plumtree must now decide whether to play Lomu in their NPC opener against Southland.

"We will have a look at whether Jonah is an option against Southland and whether we feel he is up to it," Plumtree said.