Northern Edition
Select Edition
Northern Northern
Southern Southern
Global Global
New Zealand New Zealand
France France

The remarkable links between rugby and World's Strongest Man competition

erry Hollands of United Kingdom competes at the Deadlift (Photo by Victor Fraile/Getty Images)

The world of strength athletes has reached a milestone this year, with the sport’s centrepiece competition – World’s Strongest Man (WSM) – entering its 40th year.

ADVERTISEMENT

It’s a sport populated by true giants, with many WSM athletes making even rugby’s largest players look relatively human by comparison. Top WSM competitors weigh upwards of 150kg, with this year’s heaviest athletes weighing close to 200kg or 32 stone in old money.

Yet rugby can boast a remarkable lineage in the competition, with many of it’s best-known athletes having cut their teeth in the fifteen man game.

Of World Strongest Man’s thirty 2017 competitors, five are former rugby players.

Britain’s Terry Hollands played rugby at Harlequins at U21 and was a ‘regular feature’ in the team in the late 90s. The now 6’6, 170kg Hollands (slimmed down from 194kg) was already getting too heavy to lift in his rugby days as a second row. He is still an avid rugby fan and competed in a Rugby Aid match alongside Brad Thorn in 2015.

In fact Harlequins have a rich vein of form in strength athletes. Their current S&C coach Adam Bishop missed out on this year’s final but has competes in the UK Strong Man circuit. The 6’3, 130kg Bishop was a winger in his rugby days and goes by the moniker – The Titan of Twickenham.

6’2, 158kg Laurence ‘Big Loz’ Shahleai was a tighthead prop for Gloucester Rugby team playing in the English Rugby Union and has won Britain’s Strongest Man on multiple occasions.

One of the outsiders for this year’s tournament is “The Georgian Bull” Konstantine Janashia who played rugby before he took up a career in strength athletics. He is still a keen rugby fan and the 6’5, 155kg giant boasts some of the largest trapezius muscles on the planet.

ADVERTISEMENT

Also in this year’s final is man mountain New Zealander Colm Woulfe (6’5, 180kg) who played rugby as a teenager and South Africa’s Johan Els. The 6’5, 148kg Els played as a secondrow.

Indeed the record breaking five-time WSM winner – Mariusz Pudzianowski – played rugby in Poland and was even rumoured to have signed for Welsh side Amman.

While hot favourite Eddie ‘The Beast’ Hall did not play rugby, his brother James Hall played prop for Bristol and holds a world record in the Ski Erg.

ADVERTISEMENT

KOKO Show | July 1st | The Lions are here and the KOKO crew are getting excited

Touchdown in Dublin, The Red Sea Returns & We Prepare to Face Argentina | Ep 2: The Ultimate Test

World Rugby U20 Championship 2025

South Africa v British & Irish Lions | 2009 | Second Test | The Vaults

Lions Share | Episode 1

England XV v France XV | Full Match Replay

"The Opportunity Of A Lifetime" | Wallabies All In: Episode 1

Are these the best ever Lions performances?

Trending on RugbyPass

Comments

0 Comments
Be the first to comment...

Join free and tell us what you really think!

Sign up for free
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest Features

Comments on RugbyPass

B
BleedRed&Black 1 hour ago
Who is telling the truth about France's tour of New Zealand?

What you mean is that you have now put the hookers on the list, having edited them in after I pointed out their absence. Even then you missed out that Mauvaka is allegedly "eligible", when of course we all know that "eligible" means exactly what French rugby wants it to mean, and therefore a propaganda device designed to convince the credulous and protect the dishonest. I will leave you to make another edit.


It's nice to see what you and AlanP are finally admitting what is real, that France puts all its focus on its own domestic interests and gives Southern hemisphere rugby the leftovers. You finally admit that the way French Rugby is structured France's strongest squad, its 6N squad, will not play in the southern hemisphere. That is exactly what Bishop’s article is about, that the French rugby's claim that the leading French players have "played too much" to tour NZ is a fraud designed to explain away the fact this is purely a development tour for France, and therefore a betrayal of the spirit, if not the letter, of the international tours agreement. Someone really should let Bishop know his most extreme critics are finally admitting he is right. He will be very pleased.


It's worth emphasizing just how isolated France is in this. Every 6N team manages their players in a way that they allows them to tour the Southern Hemisphere with the strongest squad they have. Except France. Every 6N team, England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, even Italy, live up to the spirit as well as the letter of the tours agreement. Except France. Ireland have delivered massively over the three years, winning three tests and narrowly losing two in their five tests in NZ and SA. Those were genuinely great series. Even the England series in NZ last year was excellent, crude but close with the English pouring everything into getting a win. The contrast between the efforts made by Ireland and England as against France is extreme. France instead sits back in its splendid isolation, sends NZ its third best, and lies that it is the best it can do. You have to wonder what Blanco and Sella and Berbizier and Rives, the greats of French rugby, men who gave their guts for France, in NZ as much as anywhere, think of French rugby's contempt for NZ rugby. And of the barrage of lies that have accompanied it.

422 Go to comments
LONG READ
LONG READ Mick Cleary: 'Itoje is the standard bearer for this Lions group. He leads the way.' Mick Cleary: 'Itoje is the standard bearer for this Lions group. He leads the way.'
Search