As this year’s Rugby Championship enters its final round of action, we rank which team has the heaviest pack on average.
With the help of Opta stats, here is how Argentina, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa rank according to their weight, height and age.
Heaviest
Surprisingly, Los Pumas have the lightest pack of the four nations, averaging 112.2 kilograms.
While the Springboks pack is notorious for its size, they are beaten to the heaviest eight by Australia, with Eddie Jones’ side edging the Boks by an average weight of 1.2 kilograms per player.
The All Blacks come in third place, weighing 3 kilograms per player less than the Boks but 0.7 kgs more than the Pumas.
4 Argentina – 112.2 kgs/247.35 lbs
3 New Zealand – 112.9 kgs/248.9 lbs
2 South Africa – 115.9 kgs/255.5 lbs
1 Australia – 117.1 kgs/258.16 lbs
Height
While the All Blacks aren’t the heaviest pack, they do have the tallest forwards in the competition.
The likes of Brodie Retallick (204cm) and Sam Whitelock (2.03cm) certainly help their cause, as do Tupou Vaa’i (197cm) and Shannon Frizell (195cm).
Despite having behemoths like Eben Etzebeth (203cm), RG Snyman (206cm), Lood de Jager (206cm) and Pieter-Steph du Toit (198cm), the Springboks only rank third, with Australian players just slightly taller on average than their South African counterparts.
4 Argentina – 189.6cm/6ft 2.65 inches
3 South Africa – 190.9cm/6ft 3.15 inches
2 Australia – 191.1cm/6ft 3.24 inches
1 New Zealand – 192.4cm/6ft 3.75 inches
Age
Argentina rank lowest in all three categories as they also boast the youngest pack in the competition, with New Zealand in third, Australia in second, and South Africa in first.
The Springboks are comfortably the oldest pack in the tournament, with Duane Vermeulen (37) and Deon Fourie (37) pushing their average up.
Los Pumas do have experienced campaigners in Agustin Creevy (38) and Francisco Gomez-Kodela (38), but the youth of Juan Martin Gonzalez (22), Thomas Gallo (24) and Pedro Rubiolo (20) drives their average down.
4 Argentina – 28.5 years
3 New Zealand – 29.3 years
2 Australia – 29.6 years
1 South Africa – 31.4 years
The final round of the Rugby Championship sees the Springboks host Argentina at Ellis Park while the Wallabies clash with the All Blacks in Melbourne in the opening Bledisloe Cup Test of 2023.
READ MORE: Winners and losers from the Springboks’ squad to face Argentina
The article Ranked: The heaviest, tallest and oldest packs in the Rugby Championship appeared first on Planetrugby.com.
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