The 5 Heaviest Rugby Players of All Time Includes Springbok Giant

Monday, 26 January 2026 at 18:55

bySteven Smith

for good reason, Ntlabakanye muscled his way into the Springboks set-up in 2024 after folding scrums for the Lions.

Rugby has always loved a giant, but every so often the sport produces players who look less like athletes and more like moving landmarks.

These are the men who made referees double-check the team sheet, sent scrum machines into early retirement and left opposition packs wondering if physics still applied.

Forget post-Christmas excess — this is heavyweight rugby at its absolute limit.

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5. Posolo Tuilagi (France) – 149kg

The latest juggernaut off the famous Tuilagi production line. Already a Test lock for France and flattening anything in front of him for Perpignan, Posolo brings the family’s trademark destruction to the engine room.

At nearly 150kg, he moves alarmingly well for his size, making him less “big unit” and more “rolling natural disaster”.

4. Asenathi Ntlabakanye (South Africa) – 150kg

Nicknamed Ox Lite

A tighthead built like a concrete mixer, his game is brutally simple: dominate collisions, crush the set-piece and leave looseheads in survival mode. Still developing — already frightening.

3. Uini Atonio (France) – 155k

A modern front-row great. With over 70 Test caps, a Six Nations title and multiple European trophies with La Rochelle, Atonio has been a cornerstone of French success for over a decade.

At 155kg, he remains the definition of immovable — an anchor who makes even elite scrummagers look lightweight.

2. Ben Tameifuna (Tonga) – 160kg

The modern monster prop. Tonga captain, long-time scrum anchor and cult hero across hemispheres, Tameifuna combines jaw-dropping mass with soft hands and deceptive footwork.

From Super Rugby stardom with the Chiefs to European dominance with Racing 92 and Bordeaux, he’s proof that sheer size can still come with skill.

1. Bill Cavubati (Fiji) – 167kg

The undisputed heavyweight king of rugby. A cult figure of the early 2000s, Cavubati famously packed down against the All Blacks in 2005 weighing more than some backlines combined.

A Wellington stalwart and Hurricanes squad member, he wasn’t just big — he could actually scrum, which makes his size all the more ridiculous.