He juts 1.97m out of his boots and the needle on most scales will make a full revolution under his weight. It is fair to say Tendai Mtawarira will have his hands full when he comes to grips with this beast of a man, France’s tighthead prop, Uini Atonio, at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday. Atonio is in France’s starting line-up in the absence of the more resourceful scrummager Rabah Slimani. Atonio, who at 145kg was the heaviest player at the last Rugby World Cup, looks a little leaner these days, but just a little. "I used to watch him on TV," said Atonio of Mtawarira. "Every time he touches the ball the crowd would go ‘Beeeeast’. That’s awesome. It’s going to be a tough one. We are ready for some big impacts." Atonio, who is of Samoan extraction, was born in Timaru, Canterbury but moved to France in 2011. He made his Test debut in 2014. Now he is up against a team he has admired from a distance. "I’ve never had a chance," he said about facing a South African team. "I watched them a lot...
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