Who would you expect to lift the heaviest weights at a rugby club? Generally speaking, most people would guess at one of the forwards. A four-square prop, perhaps, or maybe a brute of a lock. How about the outside centre? Surely not.

Well, that is the case at Newcastle Falcons, where the unlikely king of the weights room is Mathew Tait.

“Mathew is incredibly strong,” John Fletcher, the Newcastle director of rugby, said. “He’s been blessed with a huge amount of fast-twitch fibres, like a top-class sprinter, which helps him to run fast, but it also makes him strong.

“Micky Ward [the Falcons' no-nonsense prop] will hate me for saying this, but Mathew is probably the strongest player in our squad. And this is not pound-for-pound, this is in actual weights lifted. You wouldn’t believe what this kid can lift. He’ll lift more than any of our forwards by some distance.”

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Not all of the weightlifting that Tait has done in recent times has been beneficial. After he had been discarded by England as a result of a chastening debut in 2005, the 18-year-old was advised by the national team’s coaches to add bulk to his frame. He did as instructed, but ended up compromising his considerable athletic ability.

“About 18 months ago he put on huge amounts of weight,” Fletcher said. “Why? Because he was told to. And what happened? He became slower. If the Derby winner put on another ten kilos he probably wouldn’t win the Derby again.

“At Newcastle, we try not to press the fast-forward button and everything Steve Black does is geared to the rugby and we’ve got him back to his best shape now. And anyone who doesn’t think he’s strong in the tackle, I’d advise them to run into him and see how it feels.”

Now there’s a message for the South Africa centres to ponder before tomorrow’s final.