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Pro D2

Heavy-hitters: Every Pro D2 team by height, weight and age

By Ian Cameron

47 days ago

Nephi Leatigaga and Jonny May (Getty Images)

The upcoming Pro D2 season sees some absolute giants across the league, with the French second flight rivalling the Top 14, URC and Gallagher Premiership for sheer size.

The tallest player across the teams is Valence Romans’ Darren O’Shea, standing at an imposing 206 cm, closely followed by Oyonnax’s Manuel Leindekar at 205cm.

The heaviest player in the competition is US Dax’s Nephi Leatigaga, tipping the scales at 149 kg, with Nice’s Aselo Ikahehegi weighing in at 140 kg, as does Ali Oz.

Deon Fourie casts doubt over his playing future | RPTV

World Cup winner Deon Fourie talks about his battle with a long-term injury in the latest episode of Boks Office. Watch the full show on RugbyPass TV now

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Deon Fourie casts doubt over his playing future | RPTV

World Cup winner Deon Fourie talks about his battle with a long-term injury in the latest episode of Boks Office. Watch the full show on RugbyPass TV now

Watch now

Among the veterans, Aix’s Jimmy Gopperth leads the way at 41 years old, the former Hurricanes, Leinster, Newcastle, Wasps and Leicester playmaker still going strong.

Caveat: The statistics do not include extensive ‘Espoirs’ rosters which include players that will feature in the Pro D2 regular season.

As such this list trends higher for age than our previous breakdown of both the URC and Gallagher Premiership statistics, where there are typically fewer players on academy contracts.

16. Mont-de-Marsan
David Auradou’s Stade Montois finished mid-table in the last campaign. They’re the lightest squad in the league and also one of the youngest.

Average age: 27.4 years
Average height: 185.7 cm
Average weight: 101.7 kg
Tallest player: Myles Edwards – 199 cm
Heaviest player: Myles Edwards – 125 kg
Oldest player: Anthony Alvès – 35 years
League finish last time out: 8th

15. Soyaux-Angoulême
One of the lightest in this season’s Pro D2, SA XV Charente squad’s big-name signing was England winger Jonny May.

Average age: 27.2 years
Average height: 185.8 cm
Average weight: 102.1 kg
Tallest player: Ian Kitwanga – 201 cm
Heaviest player: Ian Kitwanga – 122 kg
Oldest player: Motu Matu’u – 37 years
League finish last time out: 12th

Cornell du Preez in his Edinburgh days (Photo by Alex Broadway/Getty Images)

14. Biarritz
The former European Cup finalists sank to a lowly 14th in last year’s Pro D2, with the once mighty club needing to be rescued off the pitch due to their dire finances. They have made some noteworthy signings, including former Scotland back-row Cornell du Preez and Masivesi Dakuwaqa.

Average age: 27.9 years
Average height: 185.1 cm
Average weight: 102.1 kg
Tallest player: Charlie Matthews – 202 cm
Heaviest player: Nodar Shengelia – 127 kg
Oldest player: Piula Fa’Asalele – 36 years
League finish last time out: 14th

13. Grenoble FC
They came within a whisker of being promoted back to the Top 14 and are likely to make a strong case for promotion again this season.

Average age: 26.5 years
Average height: 185.5 cm
Average weight: 102.3 kg
Tallest player: Pierce Phillips – 203 cm
Heaviest player: Cody Thomas – 125 kg
Oldest player: Pierce Phillips – 31 years
League finish last time out: 4th

12. Beziers
Pierre Caillet’s Bezier finished third in last Seaon’s campaign and are among the favourites to contest for promotion again this time around. They won’t be relying on many mass monsters to do it either, with the squad averaging 102kg a man. They’ve signed Saracens prop Christian Judge among others.

Average age: 28.0 years
Average height: 185.2 cm
Average weight: 102.4 kg
Tallest player: Cam Dodson – 201 cm
Heaviest player: Yannick Arroyo – 137 kg
Oldest player: Francisco Fernandes – 39 years
League finish last time out: 3rd

Jonathan Ruru, Jack Whetton and Harry Plummer. (Photo by Andrew Cornaga/Photosport)

11. Colomiers
Colomiers heaviest player is Marco Fepulea’i and their tallest is former Waratah Jack Whetton.

Average age: 25.9 years
Average height: 185.6 cm
Average weight: 103.2 kg
Tallest player: Jack Whetton – 200 cm
Heaviest player: Marco Fepulea’i – 128.0 kg
Oldest player: Anthony Coletta – 35.0 years
League finish last time out: 10th

10. Agen
A lowly 13th last season, SUA will be hoping that the new additions Billy Searle and Jack Maunder can help turn the tide.

Average age: 27.3 years
Average height: 186.1 cm
Average weight: 103.7 kg
Tallest player: William Demotte – 202 cm
Heaviest player: Lasha Macharashvili – 128 kg
Oldest player: Vincent Farré – 34 years
League finish last time out: 13th

9. Stade Aurillacois
A relatively modest recruitment drive over the summer after they finished 9th last time out.

Average age: 25.4 years
Average height: 187.2 cm
Average weight: 103.9 kg
Tallest player: Koen Bloemen – 203 cm
Heaviest player: Mehdi Slamani – 131 kg
Oldest player: Elijah Niko – 34 years
League finish last time out: 9th

8. Valence Romans
Six-foot-nine Munsterman Darren O’Shea is the tallest in the squad. The squad includes former Melbourne Rebels and Leicester Tigers fullback George Worth.

Average age: 28.5 years
Average height: 186.6 cm
Average weight: 104.0 kg
Tallest player: Darren O’Shea – 206 cm
Heaviest player: Gareth Milasinovich – 134 kg
Oldest player: Florian Goumat – 34 years
League finish last time out: 11th

7. Nice
Newly promoted after winning the Championnat Fédéral Nationale last season, the squad include former Leinster centre Tom Daly and Los Pumas prop Facundo Gigena.

Average age: 26.6 years
Average height: 184.6 cm
Average weight: 104.8 kg
Tallest player: Ugo Vignolles – 204 cm
Heaviest player: Aselo Ikahehegi – 140 kg
Oldest player: Jason Fraser – 33 years
League finish last time out: Promoted to ProD2

Asafo Aumua (All Blacks) plaque Facundo Gigena (Argentine) pendant le match du Rugby Championship entre les All Blacks de Nouvelle-Zélande et les Pumas d’Argentine au Cbus Super Stadium le 12 septembre 2021 à Gold Coast, en Australie. (Photo par Chris Hyde/Getty Images)

6. US Dax
Fifth last time out, their heaviest player is former Leicester Tigers loosehead, Nephi Leatigaga, who tips the scales are 23.5 stone.

Average age: 27.3 years
Average height: 187.1 cm
Average weight: 105.2 kg
Tallest player: Alexandre Manukula – 202 cm
Heaviest player: Nephi Leatigaga – 149 kg
Oldest player: Genesis Mamea Lemalu – 36 years
League finish last time out: 5th

5. Nevers
Xavier Péméja’s USON Nevers have five Georgians on the books and with an average bodyweight of 105.5kg across the squad, are getting up there in terms of size as the fifth heaviest in the league.

Average age: 26.2 years
Average height: 185.5 cm
Average weight: 105.5 kg
Tallest player: Ugo Vignolles – 204 cm
Heaviest player: Aselo Ikahehegi – 140 kg
Oldest player: Jason Fraser – 33 years
League finish last time out: 7th

4. Aix-en-Provence (Provence Rugby)
They topped the league last time out but lost out in the promotion play-offs. Have been bolstered by the likes of British & Irish Lions star George North, former Sarries prop Hayden Thompson-Stringer and ex-France flyhalf Jules Plisson.

Average age: 28.2 years
Average height: 186.1 cm
Average weight: 106.4 kg
Tallest player: Izack Rodda – 202 cm
Heaviest player: Thomas Vernet – 127 kg
Oldest player: Jimmy Gopperth – 41 years
League finish last time out: 1

3. Oyonnax
A number of very heavy forwards and a relatively large back division make Oyonnax one of the heaviest rosters in the league. 140kg Ali Oz is the heaviest. They’ll be hoping to bounce back up into the Top 14 after being relegated last season.

Average age: 28.1 years
Average height: 187.5 cm
Average weight: 106.5 kg
Tallest player: Manuel Leindekar – 205 cm
Heaviest player: Ali Oz – 140 kg
Oldest player: Benjamin Gélédan – 34 years
League finish last time out: Relegated from the Top 14

2. Montauban
Ten forwards over 120kg and a heavyweight back line that includes 115kg centre Seva Galala and 108kg Josu Vici help make this one of the most physically imposing teams in the Pro D2.

Average age: 28.9 years
Average height: 187.4 cm
Average weight: 107.1 kg
Tallest player: Frank Bradshaw – 205 cm
Heaviest player: Lucas Seyrolle – 131 kg
Oldest player: Dimitri Vaotoa – 35 years
League finish last time out: 8th

1. Brive
No less than eleven Brive forwards weigh over 120kg while five of their back division weigh over 100kg, making them the league’s heaviest squad.

Average age: 27.2 years
Average height: 187.0 cm
Average weight: 107.4 kg
Tallest player: Renger Van Eerten – 203 cm
Heaviest player: Nathan Fraissenon – 130 kg
Oldest player: Sitaleki Timani – 38 years
League finish last time out: 6th

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Comments

2 Comments

NK 43 days ago

Nice and Nevers seem to share certain players according to this summary.

JW 46 days ago

Only 140s? Theyve gone down in size then.

Join free and tell us what you really think!

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Comments on RugbyPass

OM 59 minutes ago

Let's be real about these All Blacks

On behalf of New Zealand, I apologise for Ben Smith.

18 Go to comments

Mitch 1 hour ago

David Campese takes back his Joe Schmidt coaching Australia criticism

No doubt they liked Rennie but a 38% win record is hard to defend.

16 Go to comments

Red and White Dynamight 1 hour ago

Pablo Matera returns from ban as Argentina change 3 for Ireland

Incorrect. Matera plays mostly on blindside incl for Crusaders when they won title in 2022. Pumas tend to play their flankers left and right rather than 6/7 but Matera is involved in set pieces mostly on blindside channel.

3 Go to comments

Cantab 1 hour ago

Let's be real about these All Blacks

It is true that some of the ABs losses were unlucky but it must also be conceded that some of their wins were equally fortuitous and even out overall. I firmly believe that provided the team takes stock of their shortcomings and remedy them while building on the positive, they will return to being the juggernaut of past glories. They are not that far off and Razor has largely developed a side which is capable of not only winning a world cup but returning to the top of world rankings. Boks beware as uneasy the head that wears the crown.

18 Go to comments

DrinkAwayTheConcussion 1 hour ago

Sadness pervades as Gatland stands on the brink of Welsh exit

As if we’d let such an obvious double agent ploy work on us lol.

Tell me, who was just appointed head coach of Australia’s Men’s 7s…???

15 Go to comments

PA 1 hour ago

David Campese takes back his Joe Schmidt coaching Australia criticism

Campo , why don't you try Coaching?

Give Schmidt a chance to prove himself. Schmidt is a professional Coach who has done the hard yards. Give him the opportunity to prove himself. At present he's on the right track and getting better all the time. Don't bring the fact that he's a Kiwi, that's irrelevant. What's relevant is getting the best performance and results for rugby and Australia.

16 Go to comments

DrinkAwayTheConcussion 1 hour ago

David Campese takes back his Joe Schmidt coaching Australia criticism

None. Aussie coaches suck. But who are the 6 Australians better than Schmidtoh?

16 Go to comments

Jen 1 hour ago

Let's be real about these All Blacks

You Bok fans must get sick of reading this stuff, honestly. They're a great team. Our ABs just need to play better and take the ref out of the equation.

18 Go to comments

Jen 1 hour ago

Let's be real about these All Blacks

Our rivalry with the Boks is special. I can live with getting smashed by an excellent SA side. NOONE ELSE THOUGH. Losing to Engerland is not okay.

18 Go to comments

JW 1 hour ago

'Passionate reunion of France and New Zealand shows Fabien Galthie is wrong to rest his stars'

PS, the only thing I could find on SA contractual changes was a while ago. I'm sure I was reading something more recent that was saying SARU are only involved with their PONI players. And as per above, 'private' doesn't mean billionaire owners in my book, just independant.

286 Go to comments

JW 2 hours ago

'Passionate reunion of France and New Zealand shows Fabien Galthie is wrong to rest his stars'

Ok, managed to read the full article..

... New Zealand’s has only 14 and the professional season is all over within four months. In France, club governance is the responsibility of an independent organisation [the Ligue Nationale de Rugby or LNR] which is entirely separate from the host union [the Fédération Française de Rugby or FFR]. Down south New Zealand Rugby runs the provincial and the national game.

That is the National Provincial Championship, a competition of 14 representative union based teams run through the SH international window and only semi professional (paid only during it's running). It is run by NZR and goes for two and a half months.

Super Rugby is a competition involving 12 fully professional teams, of which 5 are of New Zealand eligibility, and another joint administered team of Pacific Island eligibility, with NZR involvement. It was a 18 week competition this year, so involved (randomly chosen I believe) extra return fixtures (2 or 3 home and away derbys), and is run by Super Rugby Pacific's own independent Board (or organisation). The teams may or may not be independently run and owned (note, this does not necessarily mean what you think of as 'privately owned').

LNR was setup by FFR and the French Government to administer the professional game in France. In New Zealand, the Players Association and Super Rugby franchises agreed last month to not setup their own governance structure for professional rugby and re-aligned themselves with New Zealand Rugby. They had been proposing to do something like the English model, I'm not sure how closely that would have been aligned to the French system but it did not sound like it would have French union executive representation on it like the LNR does.

In the shaky isles the professional pyramid tapers to a point with the almighty All Blacks. In France the feeling for country is no more important than the sense of fierce local identity spawned at myriad clubs concentrated in the southwest. Progress is achieved by a nonchalant shrug and the wide sweep of nuanced negotiation, rather than driven from the top by a single intense focus.

Yes, it is pretty much a 'representative' selection system at every level, but these union's are having to fight for their existence against the regime that is NZR, and are currently going through their own battle, just as France has recently as I understand it. A single focus, ala the French game, might not be the best outcome for rugby as a whole.

For pure theatre, it is a wonderful article so far. I prefer 'Ntamack New Zealand 2022' though.

The young Crusader still struggles to solve the puzzle posed by the shorter, more compact tight-heads at this level but he had no problem at all with Colombe.

It was interesting to listen to Manny during an interview on Maul or Nothing, he citied that after a bit of banter with the All Black's he no longer wanted one of their jersey's after the game. One of those talks was an eye to eye chat with Tamaiti Williams, there appear to be nothing between the lock and prop, just a lot of give and take. I thought TW angled in and caused Taylor to pop a few times, and that NZ were lucky to be rewarded.

f you have a forward of 6ft 8ins and 145kg, and he is not at all disturbed by a dysfunctional set-piece, you are in business.

He talked about the clarity of the leadership that helped alleviate any need for anxiety at the predicaments unfolding before him. The same cannot be said for New Zealand when they had 5 minutes left to retrieve a match winning penalty, I don't believe. Did the team in black have much of a plan at any point in the game? I don't really call an autonomous 10 vehicle they had as innovative. I think Razor needs to go back to the dealer and get a new game driver on that one.

Vaa’i is no match for his power on the ground. Even in reverse, Meafou is like a tractor motoring backwards in low gear, trampling all in its path.

Vaa'i actually stops him in his tracks. He gets what could have been a dubious 'tackle' on him?

A high-level offence will often try to identify and exploit big forwards who can be slower to reload, and therefore vulnerable to two quick plays run at them consecutively.

Yes he was just standing on his haunches wasn't he? He mentioned that in the interview, saying that not only did you just get up and back into the line to find the opposition was already set and running at you they also hit harder than anything he'd experienced in the Top 14. He was referring to New Zealands ultra-physical, burst-based Super style of course, which he was more than a bit surprised about. I don't blame him for being caught out.

He still sent the obstruction back to the repair yard though!

What wouldn’t the New Zealand rugby public give to see the likes of Mauvaka and Meafou up front..

Common now Nick, don't go there! Meafou showed his Toulouse shirt and promptly got his citizenship, New Zealand can't have him, surely?!?

As I have said before with these subjects, really enjoy your enthusiasm for their contribution on the field and I'd love to see more of their shapes running out for Vern Cotter and the like styled teams.

286 Go to comments

Longshanks 2 hours ago

The Wallabies have a serious problem

No love for Ollie Hoskins? Decent Aussie tighthead playing for Saracens

11 Go to comments

DrinkAwayTheConcussion 2 hours ago

Despite defeat in Paris, the real reason the All Blacks are feeling upbeat

I don’t agree with everything there, but I fear you may be right about Ardie.

Moana Pasifika are not a New Zealand franchise officially, which means they can play Ardie for 80 minutes each week if they want to.

And they’ll want to.

And it is rare to see players come back from Japan in equal or better form when they left.

Jerome Kaino and Michael Hooper are the only two I can think of.