Rugby World Cup: compare your height and weight to players from the French XV and the World Cup

2023-09-15 13:58:10

This will probably not have escaped you while watching the first matches of the Rugby World Cup: the size of the players has little to do with that of your next door neighbor. The average measurements of an international rugby player in 2023? 1.86 m tall and 106 kg. Next to it, the average Frenchman with his height of 77 meters and 81 kg (1.64 m and 67 kg for women) seems very frail.

On the side of the French XV, the typical player measures 1.87 m and 103 kg, slightly taller (+ 1 cm) but also a little lighter (- 3 kg) than the average of the other teams. The tallest selection is New Zealand, with an average height of 1.88m for the All Blacks. Conversely, it is the Japanese who are the shortest with “only” 1.82 m. In terms of weight, the Samoans have a remarkable 107 kg on average, while the Uruguayans are only at 96 kg on the scale.

Romain Taofifenua the “strongest” player of the Blues

And what do the individual statistics say? The tallest player at the World Cup is Irish second row James Ryan, a handsome baby at 2.10m and 118kg; i.e. 45 cm taller than Japanese scrum half Naoto Saito and his 65 meter height, the smallest player in the competition. At 151 kg, Ben Tameifuna, the Tongan prop, is the heaviest player. Note that the Frenchman Uini Atonio and his 146 kg are not far behind. Twice as light as these colossi, the Japanese Yutaka Nagare (69 kg) is the only player at the World Cup under the 70 kg mark.

Finally among the Blues, the strongest player is Romain Taofifenua (2.03 m for 135 kg). The LOU forward looks at his teammate Antoine Dupont, 28 cm and 50 kg (1.75 m for 85 kg), scrum half and regularly considered the best player in the world. So in rugby, as in life, everything is not always just a question of size (and weight).

Compete against every team at the World Cup

And you ? Where do you stand compared to the World Cup players? We have collected all the measurements of the protagonists of the competition. Enter your height and weight and you will then be able to find yourself in the heart of the fray!