{"id":771605,"date":"2026-09-15T16:58:25","date_gmt":"2026-09-15T16:58:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/771605\/"},"modified":"2026-09-15T16:58:25","modified_gmt":"2026-09-15T16:58:25","slug":"chandler-cunningham-souths-surprising-size-admission-ahead-of-new-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/771605\/","title":{"rendered":"Chandler Cunningham-South’s surprising ‘size’ admission ahead of new season"},"content":{"rendered":"

Chandler Cunningham-South was already one of England<\/a>\u2019s and Harlequins\u2019 big boppers, but he comes into the new season bigger and bulkier.<\/p>\n

The 23-year-old forward, who can play flanker, number eight and lock, already stands at 6\u2032 5\u2033 and weighs 120kg, but this off-season has added yet more size to his already hulking frame.<\/p>\n

\u2018I guess I\u2019m filling out a bit as well\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve put a bit of size on,\u201d he said. \u201cI feel good; I feel ready to go. I\u2019m excited for this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was in the gym, eating well in the off-season and just put a bit of size on. I\u2019m still 23 so I guess I\u2019m filling out a bit as well!\u201d<\/p>\n

Harlequins out to put club \u2018back where it belongs\u2019 as England pair herald \u2018refreshing\u2019 impact of \u2018exceptional\u2019 coaching staff<\/a><\/p>\n

That size certainly comes with a purpose, though, with Cunningham-South on a mission to help turn Quins\u2019 fortunes around after a difficult season and, in doing so, get him back into the England match-day squad ahead of the World Cup.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just want to play well for Quins<\/a>,\u201d he detailed. \u201cI want to have a good season this year and then what will come from that, who knows, hopefully some games for England.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, the big question hanging over him is what position he will play, for both club and country.<\/p>\n

Want more from Planet Rugby? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list<\/a> for world-class coverage you can trust.<\/p>\n

After emerging as an out-and-out back-rower during his stints at London Irish and England U20s and then during the early stages of his career at Harlequins and England<\/a>, he has since been shifted towards a utility role in recent seasons.<\/p>\n

Of his 19 appearances for the Londoners last season, five came in the second-row, including four starts, while he also deputised in the engine room for England at various points. That also came after two starts for Quins at lock in the 2024\/25 season and further cameos here for England across the summer tour of the Americas.<\/p>\n

George Furbank \u2018in a good spot\u2019 for England return as full-back outlines \u2018positive\u2019 Steve Borthwick conversations<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll play wherever the team needs me, to be honest,\u201d he admitted. \u201cI prefer six and eight, lock not so much, but if I\u2019ve got to play there I\u2019ve got to play there! I do my best.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first time was probably that Wales game (in the 2025 Six Nations), I was on the bench but ended up playing about 60 minutes in the second-row. It\u2019s not bad; it\u2019s not too different.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you\u2019re scrummaging in the second-row, you feel it a lot more on the legs,\u201d he added. \u201cThey\u2019re heavier earlier on in the game, but in the back-row you can run around more freely.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou get used to it, like if I was at lock every week I\u2019d get used to it for sure, but it\u2019s just a different role to being in the back-row. You\u2019ve got to stay in the scrum for longer and you\u2019re not as in the open (as in the back-row).<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t mind it, to be honest. It\u2019s a good string to add to my bow, so I can\u2019t be angry about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

READ MORE: Loose Pass: No thanks to Six Nations in the USA and why Henry Pollock deal underlines salary cap benefits<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Chandler Cunningham-South was already one of England\u2019s and Harlequins\u2019 big boppers, but he comes into the new season…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":771606,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[106115,309,61522,348,3482,50,21002,5903,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-771605","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-chandler-cunningham-south","tag-england","tag-harlequins","tag-home-page","tag-internationals","tag-news","tag-premiership","tag-rugby","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/771605","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=771605"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/771605\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/771606"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=771605"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=771605"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=771605"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}