The changing weights of Rugby World Cup-winning hookers
The increase in the weight of professional rugby players over the past 30 years is well documented, with some positions seeing staggering rises. There are a variety of reasons for such changes, but the switch to professionalism perhaps had the most resounding effect on the physicality, with huge strides in the conditioning of players.
Prior to England’s semi-final encounter with the All Blacks at last year’s World Cup, The Guardian showed how much the average weight of each team had increased since the countries met at the 1991 RWC.
The article highlighted that the average weight of an England player rose from 94.3kgs to 105.8kgs and 91.6kgs to 104.6kgs for the All Blacks over the course of 28 years, with the most significant rises coming in the tight five and the outside backs.
It is undeniable that the average weight of players has risen since the amateur era, but it’s slightly different when looking at the game since the dawn of professionalism. Average weights, of course, have continued to increase, particularly in the backs where it has become commonplace to see the formidable frames of players traditionally seen in the pack wearing the numbers 12 to 14 on their backs.
In the forwards, however, the changing demands of the game, especially in terms of the speed, has meant mobility is now favoured over bulk in some cases. This applies to the modern hooker where the role of the player has changed over the 25-year history of the professional game.
When tracking the RWC winning hookers over the nine editions of the competition, there is a clear trend in terms of the weight of players in this position, but it also shows that there has not simply been an upwards movement.
In 1987, the All Blacks’ Sean Fitzpatrick weighed 105kgs (16st 8lbs) while Australia’s Phil Kearns was 108kgs (17st) in 1991 and South Africa’s Chris Rossouw was 105kgs (16st 8lbs) in 1995. There wasn’t too much dissimilarity in the size of hookers during the amateur era and that continued into 1999 with Michael Foley weighing 105kgs (16st 8lbs) and his replacement Jeremy Paul 104kgs (16st 5lbs).
However, come 2003, there was a sharp rise with England’s Steve Thompson weighing 115kgs (18st 2lbs). While Thompson actually played the entirety of that 100-minute final versus Australia, the increase in the use of substitutions meant that larger and more physically dominant players could be deployed for shorter periods and replaced with another similarly built player, something that is an issue today.
The Springboks in 2007 did not differ too greatly from England, with John Smit weighing 116kgs (18st 4lbs) and his replacement Bismarck du Plessis weighing only a kilogram lighter. Smit also played for his country at tighthead prop, which is an indication of the approach Jake White took in 2007 when choosing his front row.
In 2011, Keven Mealamu started for the All Blacks, weighing in at 109kgs (17st 2lbs), with the 115kgs (18st 2lbs) Andrew Hore on the bench. Four years later, Mealamu was a replacement in the final behind the more mobile Dane Coles, albeit one kg heavier at 110kgs. The most recent winners South Africa started with Bongi Mbonambi, who was the lightest hooker to ever win a RWC at 98kgs (15st 6lbs), with substitute Malcolm Marx weighing 107kg (16st 12lbs).
Different sizes of players can sometimes be down to the stylistic approaches of each team. The Springboks in 2019 were no different from any other pack-orientated South African team in the past, but they still fielded the two lightest hookers to win a final this century.
South Africa perhaps provide the best insight into the changing demands of this position, as there is a stark contrast between the amateur era in 1995 and the surge in size come 2007. Twelve years after that win second title, the hookers in Rassie Erasmus’ squad were noticeably different from Jake White’s.
Mbonambi fitted in with South Africa’s tireless, well-conditioned defence, while Marx is one of the leading hookers in the world, recognised for his work at the breakdown. He is more similar to an openside flanker than to a prop, as Smit was in 2007. Indeed, Schalk Brits, the third hooker in South Africa’s squad, actually started in the back row during the tournament in Japan.
'It did turn sour'
Ed Griffiths' behind the scenes insight into the Springboks 1995 #RWC win ??, the back story to the Mandela moment, confronting flag-waving fans, holding clothes hangers for luck & the lost opportunity of it all
– writes @heagneyl https://t.co/XpSHESE4cF
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) May 24, 2020
The notion of a hooker playing as a loose forward, usually a flanker, is growing more common and was also seen in the RWC with Scotland’s Fraser Brown starting in both positions. Eddie Jones has also used Saracens’ Jack Singleton as a flanker from the bench. This could yet again be symptomatic of the changes to the game and the evolution of the position.
Of course, looking solely at the RWC winners may not necessarily be reflective of the way the entire game operates, but it is reflective of the approach taken by the best team in the world at that time which, in theory, other teams aspire to replicate.
With that said, the average weight of starting hookers in the northern hemisphere during the first week of domestic action in January further suggests that the modern player has moved away from those in the 2000s.
‘Cultural norms will shine through… but there is still a model of what a No2 should look like’
– Josh Raisey compares the average size of the No2s across the three major European club leagues ??? https://t.co/q8eEYQdVxE
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) May 22, 2020
No2s in the Top 14 averaged 107kgs, while those in the Gallagher Premiership and the Guinness PRO14 were 106kgs. Interestingly, the second-heaviest player across the three leagues was 2007 RWC winner du Plessis, who is now playing for Montpellier. At the age of 36 he may well be a vestige of the former mode of thought.
Thompson, Smit and du Plessis could well have been the exception rather than the rule, but they were nonetheless part of the most successful teams at RWCs and illustrate what a change has occurred over 20 years.
THE WORLD CUP FINAL WINNING HOOKERS
1987 NEW ZEALAND
Sean Fitzpatrick – 1.83m 105kgs (16st 8lbs)
1991 AUSTRALIA
Phil Kearns – 1.83m 108kgs (17st)
1995 SOUTH AFRICA
Chris Rossouw – 1.82m 105kgs (16st 8lbs)
1999 AUSTRALIA
Michael Foley – 1.82m 105kgs (16st 8lbs)
Jeremy Paul – 1.84m 104kgs (16st 5lbs)
2003 ENGLAND
Steve Thompson – 1.91m 115kgs (18st 2lbs)
2007 SOUTH AFRICA
John Smit – 1.86m 116kgs (18st 4lbs)
Bismarck du Plessis – 1.9m 115kgs (18st 2lbs)
2011 NEW ZEALAND
Keven Mealamu – 1.81m 109kgs (17st 2lbs)
Andrew Hore – 1.83m 115kgs (18st 2lbs)
2015 NEW ZEALAND
Dane Coles – 1.84m 110kgs (17st 5lbs)
Keven Mealamu – 1.81m 109kgs (17st 2lbs)
2019 SOUTH AFRICA
Bongi Mbonambi – 1.77m 98kgs (15st 6lbs)
Malcolm Marx – 1.85m 107kgs (16st 12lbs)
(*all weights taken from the Rugby World Cup website)
Comments on RugbyPass
Bulls by 5. Plus another 50.
3 Go to commentsJohan Goosen avatar. Cute. Surely someone at RP knows how to do a google image search?
3 Go to commentsCan’t these games play a little earlier? Asking for a friend.
3 Go to commentsIt’s impressive that we can see huge stadiums with attendance in the 40 000 to 50 000 region. It shows how popular this competition is becoming. What is even more impressive is the massive growth in broadcast viewership. The URC is one of the two best leagues in the World, the other being the Top14.
7 Go to commentsChristie is not Sottish, like the majority of the Scotland team.
2 Go to commentsHold the phone, decline over-rated. Is it a one game, dead cat bounce or the real thing? Has the Penney dropped? Stay tuned.
45 Go to commentsTotally deserved win for the Crusaders Far smarter than the Chiefs who seem to be avoiding the basics when it matters Hotham showed them what was missing and Hannah seems a real find - a tad light but that can be fixed over time
8 Go to commentsGreat insight into the performance culture with Sarries and I predict Christie will be a fixture in the Scotland team now for some time to come. However, he is slightly missing his own point around Scotland “being soft” when he cites physicality examples in defence of that slight. The issue is much closer to the example he referenced around feeling off before a game but being told “it doesn’t matter, you can still play well” by Farrell. Until Scotland can get their psyche in that square, they will carry on folding under extreme pressure…
2 Go to comments> We are having to adapt, evolve and innovate more than when we were in Super Rugby where there was only really one style that everybody had to play to gain the most success. Have = able to? Interesting what that one style might be? I thought SA sides still had bad tours now, or at least bad schedule, months away? Those extra few hours flights have to be a killer though, no surprise to see their sides doing so badly at the start of the season each year. I wouldn’t enjoy that unfairness as a supporter.
7 Go to commentsThe problem for NZ, and Aus, is they ripped up the SR model and lost a massive chunk of revenue that hasn’t been replaced. Don’t forget SA clubs went North because they were left with no choice, Argy unceremoniously binned and Japan cast adrift. Now SR wasn’t perfect, far from it, but they’ve jumped into something without an effective plan, so far, to replace what they’ve lost. The biggest revenue potential now lies in Japan but it won’t be easy or quick to unlock, they are incredibly insular in culture as a nation. In the meantime, there is a serious time bomb sitting under SH rugby and if it happens then the current financial challenges will look like a picnic. IF the Boks follow their provincial teams and head north then it’s revenue meltdown. Not guaranteed to happen but the status quo is a very odd hybrid, with the Boks pointing one way and the clubs pointing the other way. And for as long as that remains then the threat is real.
45 Go to commentsI think Etene has had some good tuition, likely while at the Warriors to be a professional that helped his rugby jump, but he was certainly thrown in the deep end way too early. Should have arguably 20 less SR caps, and therefor a way better record that he does at his age, but his development would have been fast tracked by the need to satiate his signing away from league. Again, credit to him and others that he has done it so well. Easy to fall over under that pressure in the big leagues like that but he kept at it when I myself wasn’t sure he was good enough.
1 Go to commentsAwesome story. I wonder what a bigger American (SA) scene might have mean for Brex.
1 Go to comments“Johnny McNicholl and the Crusaders” save a Penney. Who has been in camp this week and showed them how to play?
8 Go to commentsSo, reports of the Crusaders’ demise / terminal decline are perhaps just - slightly - premature/exaggerated…? 🤔 Will we see a deep-dive into that by the estimable Rugbypass scribes, and maybe one or two mea culpas? Thought not.
8 Go to comments1. The Chiefs are rudderless without DMac, which enhances his AB chances 2. Chiefs pack are powderpuffs. The hard men arent there anymore 3. They had their golden title chance last yr and wont threaten this yr. Gone in second round of playoffs.
8 Go to commentsHonestly, why did you have to publish such a foolish article the day they play us? 😂
45 Go to comments> They are not standalone entities. They are linked to an amateur association which holds the FFR licence that allows the professional side to compete in the league. That’s a great rule. This looks like the chicken or egg professional scenario. How long is it going to be before the club can break even (if that is even a thing in French rugby)? If the locals aren’t into well it would be good to se them drop to amateur level (is it that far?). Hope they can reset from this level and be more practical, there will be a time when they can rebuild (if France has there setup right).
1 Go to commentsWhat about changing the ball? To something heavier and more pointed that bounces unpredictably. Not this almost round football used these days.
35 Go to commentsThis is the problem with conservative mindsets and phycology, and homogenous sports, everybody wants to be the same, use the i-win template. Athlete wise everyone has to have muscles and work at the gym to make themselves more likely to hold on that one tackle. Do those players even wonder if they are now more likely to be tackled by that player as a result of there “work”? Really though, too many questions, Jake. Is it better Jake? Yes, because you still have that rugby of ole that you talk about. Is it at the highest International level anymore? No, but you go to your club or checkout your representative side and still engage with that ‘beautiful game’. Could you also have a bit of that at the top if coaches encouraged there team to play and incentivized players like Damian McKenzie and Ange Capuozzo? Of course we could. Sadly Rugby doesn’t, or didn’t, really know what direction to go when professionalism came. Things like the state of northern pitches didn’t help. Over the last two or three decades I feel like I’ve been fortunate to have all that Jake wants. There was International quality Super Rugby to adore, then the next level below I could watch club mates, pulling 9 to 5s, take on the countries best in representative rugby. Rugby played with flair and not too much riding on the consequences. It was beautiful. That largely still exists today, but with the world of rugby not quite getting things right, the picture is now being painted in NZ that that level of rugby is not required in the “pathway” to Super Rugby or All Black rugby. You might wonder if NZR is right and the pathway shouldn’t include the ‘amateur’, but let me tell you, even though the NPC might be made up of people still having to pull 9-5s, we know these people still have dreams to get out of that, and aren’t likely to give them. They will be lost. That will put a real strain on the concept of whether “visceral thrill, derring-do and joyful abandon” type rugby will remain under the professional level here in NZ. I think at some point that can be eroded as well. If only wanting the best athlete’s at the top level wasn’t enough to lose that, shutting off the next group, or level, or rugby players from easy access to express and showcase themselves certainly will. That all comes back around to the same question of professionalism in rugby and whether it got things right, and rugby is better now. Maybe the answer is turning into a “no”?
35 Go to commentsWow, didn’t realise there was such apathy to URC in SA, or by Champions Cup teams. Just read Nick’s article on Crusaders, are Sharks a similar circumstance? I think SA rugby has been far more balanced than NZs, no?
4 Go to comments