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https:\/\/www.rugbypass.com\/news\/there-be-monsters-the-biggest-world-rugby-u20-champions-players\/ <\/p>\nmens<\/p>\n
world-rugby-u20-championship<\/p>\n
Italy’s Enoch Opoku-Gyamfi during the U20 Six Nations Round Four match between England U20 and Italy U20 at The Recreation Ground on March 7, 2025 in Bath, England. (Photo by Bob Bradford – CameraSport via Getty Images) https:\/\/www.rugbypass.com\/news\/there-be-monsters-the-biggest-world-rugby-u20-champions-players\/ <\/p>\n
The World Rugby U20 Championship<\/a> is a breeding ground for future stars \u2013 but some of these prospects look like they\u2019ve skipped the academy and gone straight to the strongman circuit.<\/p>\n From 140kg wrecking balls to locks too heavy to lift, here are the tournament\u2019s biggest units, in every sense of the word.<\/p>\n Enoch Opoku-Gyamfi \u2013 Italy<\/strong> World Rugby and the British & Irish Lions announce a groundbreaking strategic collaboration that will see the RugbyPass App become the designated home of the British & Irish Lions Tour to Australia in 2025. <\/p>\n Download Now<\/a><\/p>\n World Rugby and the British & Irish Lions announce a groundbreaking strategic collaboration that will see the RugbyPass App become the designated home of the British & Irish Lions Tour to Australia in 2025. <\/p>\n Mohamed Megherbi \u2013 France<\/strong> Olamide Sodeke \u2013 England<\/strong> Alejandro Barrios \u2013 Argentina<\/strong> Ollie Blyth-Lafferty \u2013 Scotland<\/strong> Jamie Stewart \u2013 Scotland<\/strong> Gael Galv\u00e1n \u2013 Argentina<\/strong> Lenny Alifanety \u2013 France<\/strong> Aisake Vakasiuola \u2013 New Zealand<\/strong> Junior Kpoku \u2013 England<\/strong> Edwin Langi \u2013 Australia<\/strong> Trevor King \u2013 Australia<\/strong> Caleb Woodley \u2013 New Zealand<\/strong>
The 6\u20195, 142kg Italian is one of the largest players on show this year. Currently in Bath<\/a> Rugby\u2019s academy, he has earned seven caps for Italy<\/a> U20 and has been a real weapon for the Azzurrini at the Championship. He can play No.8 or second row, although he\u2019s understood to be too heavy to be lifted in lineouts. He may yet qualify to play for England<\/a> at senior level.<\/p>\n![\"Video](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/spacer-new.png\")
British & Irish Lions in collaboration with the RugbyPass App<\/p>\nBritish & Irish Lions in collaboration with the RugbyPass App<\/p>\n
The tighthead was previously listed on Toulouse\u2019s website at 156kg, which would have made him the world\u2019s heaviest professional rugby player at just 20 years old. The 6\u20193 prop has now slimmed down to a relatively svelte 138kg. Megherbi has won national titles with Toulouse\u2019s Crabos (2022, 2023), the Espoirs (2024), and the U20 Six Nations<\/a> with France<\/a> in 2025.<\/p>\n
Standing at 6\u20197 and weighing 126kg, England second-row Sodeke is one of the largest athletes on display in northern Italy. The Saracen has represented England at every age grade, winning the 2024 U20 Six Nations<\/a> and World Championship. A former Gravesend Grammar head boy, he studies at King\u2019s College London and credits Blackheath RFC and coach Nick Kennedy as key influences in his rugby journey.<\/p>\n
Second-row Alejandro Barrios is listed at 6\u20197 and 135.5kg. Although he hasn\u2019t featured in a matchday 23 so far in Italy, the Argentine man mountain \u2013 who plays for the Olivos club \u2013 is part of their wider squad for the 2025 World Rugby U20 Championship.<\/p>\n
Standing at 191cm and tipping the scales at 136kg, Blyth-Lafferty, a Boroughmuir RFC product, rose through the ranks to Scotland<\/a> U20 following standout performances for Scotland U18. A FOSROC Academy player aligned with Edinburgh, he gained senior experience with Currie, Heriot\u2019s, and the Futures XV, and debuted alongside brother Jerry at the 2024 U20 Trophy.<\/p>\n
Scotland also have 6\u20194, 130kg prop Jamie Stewart<\/a> on the books. Stewart began rugby in Edinburgh<\/a> before moving to Devon, where he played for Kingsbridge RFC, Blundell\u2019s School, and the Exeter Chiefs<\/a> Academy. He returned to Scotland in 2024 to join Edinburgh\u2019s pro-academy and made his Scotland U20<\/a> debut in the 2025 Six Nations after featuring at U18 level.<\/p>\n
Galv\u00e1n is a powerful tighthead prop standing at 6\u20193 and weighing 137.6kg. He plays for Club Pucar\u00e1 in Argentina. A product of their system, Galv\u00e1n has progressed through the national age grades and is part of Argentina\u2019s squad for the 2025 World Rugby U20 Championship.<\/p>\n
Another giant Frenchman, Alifanety\u2019s tale of the tape reads 6\u20194 and 131kg. Currently with Union Bordeaux<\/a> B\u00e8gles, he\u2019s featured twice at this year\u2019s World Rugby U20 Championship, having come through Bordeaux\u2019s Espoirs setup.<\/p>\n
Born in Tauranga and representing Bay of Plenty, Vakasiuola is a respectable 197cm, 122kg back-five forward who has already been picked up by the Chiefs. The 20-year-old is a strong carrier and dominant presence in the tight exchanges.<\/p>\n
A familiar name with serious pedigree, Junior Kpoku<\/a> is following in the footsteps of twin brothers Joel and Jonathan. The Racing second-row weighs in at 119kg and stands at a towering 6\u20198, bringing real physicality to England\u2019s engine room at the championship.<\/p>\n
Edwin Langi is a powerfully built tighthead standing at 6\u20191 and weighing in at 126kg and representing the Waratahs. A product of The King\u2019s School and the Drummoyne Dirty Reds, the 19-year-old now plays his senior rugby for Eastern Suburbs.<\/p>\n
A powerful 127kg scrummager from Queensland, Trevor King<\/a> is 6\u20192 and plays for the Reds. The Downlands College product came through Gladstone Rugby Union and now features for Souths.<\/p>\n
While one of the lighter players on this list, Caleb Woodley<\/a> is anything but small for a flanker. At 197cm and 122kg, the Auckland-born Blues<\/a> back-rower is a towering presence with the frame of a second-row and the engine of a loose forward. A serious prospect in New Zealand\u2019s 2025 U20 squad.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"mens world-rugby-u20-championship Italy’s Enoch Opoku-Gyamfi during the U20 Six Nations Round Four match between England U20 and Italy…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":242880,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4102],"tags":[4151,79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-242879","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-rugby","8":"tag-rugby","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114806748999904544","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/242879","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=242879"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/242879\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/242880"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=242879"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=242879"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=242879"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}