Meet the 1.96m, 142kg behemoth the Bulls plucked from club rugby for a Currie Cup debut

Last year, Jakobus "Kowie" Roos was the star of a short Facebook video compiled by his club, Pretoria Rugby Club, where he was asked about his role in the team.

A genial man, the 26-year-old tighthead prop conjured up a mischievous smile: "I'm basically here to hurt the opposing players ... within the rules, of course."

Roos, included on the Bulls' bench for Saturday's Currie Cup trip to Kimberley to face Griquas on Friday, is an ideal candidate for such a role.

He is a proverbial monster - a 1.96m behemoth who tips the scales at 142kg, a guy you definitely don't want to run into let alone try and tackle.

Yet it's been a five-year slog for the former Hoërskool Pretoria-Noord pupil to reach this unlikely potential breakthrough in his playing career.

#JoinTheClub! Meet Kowie Roos, the "smallest guy on the team"!

"Kowie is a unique athlete," former Bulls hooker cum flanker Jannie Brooks, nowadays an accomplished biokineticist and mentor for a host of young players in the broader Pretoria area, told Sport24.

"I was actually just busy with a session where I told the youngsters of Kowie's story. He's a classic example of a player whose work ethic sets him apart and a reminder that you can create opportunities for yourself if you just keep improving yourself."

Indeed, Roos arrived at Brooks' now legendary outdoor gymnasium in Waterkloof about five years ago weighing 156kg and on a mission to shed those extra pounds which - to his eternal credit - he admitted from the outset was holding him back as a player.

In his final Varsity Shield campaign for the TUT Vikings in 2020, the front-rower was already 10kg lighter and is now in tip-top shape.

"You can't categorise Kowie like you'd do other rugby players. He's a big guy with a big bone