johnnyrocket - MyTwoCents

Daily sports briefs | Rugby's bench press kings, 'Iron Mike' takes a jab at Floyd Mayweather, EPL kit men earn a small fortune - and more!

RUGBY'S BENCH PRESS KINGS

There was a time when certain coaches were obsessed with upper body strength - Jake White being one of those. These days the emphasis is rightly more on core strength and explosiveness. That being said, Springbok players are still expected to be able to bench press at least between 1.3x-1.5x their body weight depending on if they are a back or forward. Here's a look at some notables from the "Bench Press leaderboard". Top of the pops is Moldovan prop nicknamed "The Beast of the East" who has a PB of 230kg. Ok, we haven't really heard of him so he doesn't count. Among the backs, Manu Tuilagi stands out with 190kg which is better than most forwards. Among SA players, the Beast Mtawarira tops the charts with 180kg followed by Eben Etzebeth at 175kg and Pierre Spies at 165kg.

MYTWOCENTS VERDICT: I bet you wouldn't have expected Dan Carter to outbench Sonny Bill Williams 145kg to 140kg. We are also sure there are some names missing from that list ... Bismarck du Plessis, Os du Randt and Bakkies Botha for starters!

WE ARE ALL IN THE WRONG JOB

Premier League backroom staff average salaries were revealed in a report in the British media this week. While we all know that the players are overpaid, we were surprised to learn that the average kit man in the EPL earns £53k per year ... yep that's R1.3m for collecting the players' kit and boots, tossing it in the washing machine, ironing, folding and putting them next to their lockers. They become mates with top players and I am sure pick up plenty of valuable souvenirs and memorabilia.

MYTWOCENTS VERDICT: Where did it all go wrong for me?

DEEPER BENCHES FOR EPL

The EPL is considering increasing the number of substitutes allowed from the current 3 to 5 for the remainder of the season. The reasoning is that with 13 rounds of fixtures to be crammed into 8 weeks, teams will need more help with player recovery and freshness.

MYTWOCENTS VERDICT: Good move. We wonder if this will be made permanent for next season? This may cause some headaches for fantasy league punters though.

IRON MIKE TAKES A JAB AT MAYWEATHER

Boxing legend "Iron" Mike Tyson didn't pull any punches when asked for his verdict on Floyd Mayweather. Particular irked by comments from Mayweather that he was greater than Muhammad Ali, Tyson responded unequivocally ... "He's very delusional. If he was anywhere near that realm of greatness like Muhammad Ali, he'd be able to take his kids to school by himself. OK, he can't take his kids to school by himself and he's talking that he's great? Greatness is not guarding yourself from the people. It's being accepted by the people. He can't take his kids alone to school by himself."

MYTWOCENTS VERDICT: We love Tyson but we are not clear what his "taking kids to school" criteria is all about?? Tyson also said that he would love to have hypothetically fought Mayweather (had they been in the same era and weight class) and to beat him you would need to fight dirty ... something we don't think Tyson would have had a problem with!