Big Ben king of the heavyweights of rugby

When it comes to tipping the scales, no one in World Rugby comes close to Ben Tameifuna.

The Tongan tighthead prop, known for his barnstorming runs and back-breaking tackles, listed a whopping 153kg playing weight in the Rugby World Cup statistics.

Some distance behind Tameifuna (pictured) in second is former Sacred Heart College student and current Wallabies prop Taniela “Tongan Thor” Tupou at 135kg.

And while Tonga is still searching for its first 2019 Rugby World Cup win, they can take pride in two other victories.

The small island nation, ranked 16th in the world, boasts the heaviest player and heaviest forward pack at the World Cup. The average weight for a member in Tonga’s forward pack is 118.53kg, according to Weight Watchers Australia which crunched the numbers.

Uruguay has the lightest World Cup forward pack, who are on average

13kg lighter than the Tongans at 104.81kg.

New Zealand’s average is 113.76kg and the overall World Cup average forward weighs 112kg.

The body mass index for many of the forwards in Japan would be considered unhealthy, according to body mass index calculations. However, BMIs aren’t always accurate when it came to professional athletes.

They don’t distinguish between fat and muscle, so those with large muscle masses often have high BMI, even though their body fat is in the healthy range. Those with weight around their waist and healthy BMIs are at the highest risk of death from any cause, compared to those with higher BMIs and weight elsewhere.

“If I had to choose between making sure my BMI or my waist-to-hip ratio are within the ‘normal’ range, I would go for the latter,” University of Sydney associate professor Emmanuel Stamatkis says.

“A high waist-to-hip ratio most likely means high amounts of abdominal fat, and we know this comes with quite serious health risks.”

New Zealand’s heaviest player is Ofa Tu’ungafasi at 129kg, followed by Atu Moli at 127kg and Angus Ta’avo at 124kg.

Ardie Savea punches well above his weight of 95kg, the lightest member of New Zealand’s forward pack and the only one of the All Black forwards under 100kg.

The lightest forward in the competition is Kwagga Smith, from South Africa, who weighs in at a mere 80kg.