The monstrous Ben Tameifuna will make a shock positional switch for the start to Bordeaux Bègles’ Investec Champions Cup title defence in Gloucester on Friday night.
At 1.82m and 148kg, the 35-year-old Tongan has spent his entire career in the front row, where he is renowned for enormous scrummaging power and a reported 190kg bench press.
Now, the back-to-back Champions Cup winner will line up at lock alongside Frenchman Cameron Woki at Kingsholm Stadium in Bordeaux’s opening clash of the competition.
Just one of Big Ben’s workouts
Would you keep up with him?
#InvestecChampionsCup #Rugby https://t.co/7SCP2S2Bvw
— Investec Champions Cup (@ChampionsCup) May 20, 2026
Sipili Falatea, Maxime Lamothe and Jefferson Poirot make up the front row, with Temo Matiu, Marko Gazzotti and No 8 Tom Willis in the back row. Willis returns to English soil for the first time since leaving Saracens.
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Louis Bielle-Biarrey was one of four players denied entry at Bristol Airport over invalid travel permits. That was resolved, and the Les Bleus star takes his place in the back three with fellow wing Pablo Uberti and fullback Salesi Rayasi.
Nicolas Depoortere and Yoram Moefana pair up in midfield, while skipper Maxime Lucu and Martin Page-Relo form the halfback combination as the champions now chase a third straight title to equal the record.
Photo: Alberto Gardin/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images
The post Big Ben clocks in at lock appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.
The monstrous Ben Tameifuna will make a shock positional switch for the start to Bordeaux Bègles’ Investec Champions Cup title defence in Gloucester on Friday night.
The post Big Ben clocks in at lock appeared first on SA Rugby magazine. Read More
