By Dylan James

Copyright walesonline

RG Snyman, Lood de Jager and Will Skelton are just some of the names that spring to mind when you think about the tallest rugby players on the planet, but there is one man who stands head and shoulders above the rest. Rob Carmichael, who is unsurprisingly a lock, stands at a whopping 6 feet 11 inches tall. The 22-year-old is the tallest active professional rugby player in the world, and plies his trade for Edinburgh Rugby in the United Rugby Championship. He joined the Scottish club in 2024 on a loan from Leicester Tigers, before penning a three-year deal with the capital city club. Earlier in the summer, Carmichael was interviewed on Tall Stories podcast and quizzed about his height, and revealed his older brother often gets confused for being his younger brother, because he’s ‘only’ 6ft 5in. Born in Hong Kong in 2003, he has spent the majority of his life living in Asia, being brought up by a Scottish father and English/Welsh mother, who emigrated there in the 1990s. Having tried basketball when he was younger, he discovered it wasn’t for him. ut he soon found his love for the egg-shaped game, and played for Sandy Bay RFC while on the southern coast of China. The family relocated to the UK in 2019, when the big man was around 16. It wasn’t long before Tigers spotted his potential, and snapped him up for their academy. He made two PREM Rugby Cup appearances for Tigers and has previously represented England under-20s, but remains eligible for Scotland and Wales by ancestry – but he looks set for a Test career with the Scots. He told the Tall Stories podcast that it was a “massive culture shock” moving to the UK with his family, but added it wasn’t long before rugby scouts singled him out due to his height. When he was playing rugby in China, the other players weren’t able to lift him due to the sheer size difference, but it became his primary purpose when he moved to England. The Edinburgh second row explained that he understands he’s in a privileged position. “My height has massively helped me get to where I am,” he said. “I’ve been given a lot of opportunities that maybe other people wouldn’t have. I’ve worked very hard to get to where I am, but it has obviously helped me massively. I do stand out, if nothing else. “Grandmas come up to me and tell me that their grandson is as tall as me. You can’t really just shut down an old lady like that, but they’re all wrong,” he quipped with a smile. Quizzed on being the tallest professional rugby player, Carmichael said that Edinburgh have confirmed his status, and he added that he will “humbly accept that title.” Being the biggest of his friends and brothers, Carmichael’s height doesn’t come without a fair share of ripping. “My brothers have called me a big freak for so long,” he laughs. “It’s not really an insult anymore, it’s just kind of… or they just call me a circus freak as well. Which might sound quite harsh, but that’s just one of my nicknames!” Carmichael has now spent a season with Edinburgh in the URC, and will be hoping to continue improving going into the new season, with the potential for a Scotland call-up now that he’s playing for a club there. The rising star has already represented ‘Emerging Scotland’ since arriving there, and has spoken about his dream to play for the country. “It’s always been my dream to play for Scotland,” Carmichael told Edinburgh Rugby when he joined the club. “I grew up in Hong Kong and I wanted to play for them but if Scotland came up and by some miracle I could do it, I would. “My dad’s side of the family are all Scottish so I’ve supported them for as long as I can remember.”