Could Irish rugby player Neff Giwa have unique role for South Carolina this year?
In 1985, Sports Illustrated ran a story about phenom Sidd Finch, an English orphan who grew up in Tibet and was soon to be playing for the New York Mets after discovering he could throw a 168 mph fastball ... while wearing just one hiking boot.
That turned out to be a very well-executed April Fool’s joke.
But on Sunday — three days before April 1 — you could be forgiven for wondering if South Carolina’s newest signee was real.
Neff Giwa is a 6-foot-7, 295-pound rugby player from Ireland who has never played a down of organized football and, yet, signed with the Gamecocks after other top college football programs — Georgia, Miami, Tennessee, etc. — brought him on visits.
Per The Athletic, he has 37-inch arms, broad-jumped nearly 10 feet and has been timed at 4.88 seconds in the 40-yard dash. Minus the hiking boot, he is football’s Sidd Finch.
Except, somehow, Giwa is an actual human — and soon to be enrolling at South Carolina to play under coach Shane Beamer.
The idea is that Giwa will arrive in Columbia this summer and further train to be an SEC offensive lineman, which should be aided by the fact that USC OL coach Randy Clements has trained international players before. The Athletic reported that Clements’ tutelage of Sebastian Vollmer — who played under Clements at Houston and became a second-round NFL Draft pick — impressed Giwa.
But the offensive line is full of intricacies that rarely allows a newcomer to thrive at the position immediately. Could Giwa come in and play right away on the offensive line for South Carolina? Maybe in Year Two or Three, but it seems unlikely Giwa could play meaningful snaps in 2026. Then again, perhaps trying to put limits on a unicorn is unwise.
Could Giwa be a factor for USC’s special teams?
In any case, even if he isn’t protecting quarterback LaNorris Sellers this season, that doesn’t mean he can’t see the field at all. In true Beamer Ball fashion, could the Gamecocks try and get a special teams leg up by having the 6-7 Giwa trying to block punts on Saturdays?
“I’ve heard that he’s above average in height,” USC special teams coordinator Matthew Smiley said with a grin Monday. “So I think that would be an advantage.”
At 6-7, Giwa is tied with offensive lineman Josiah Thompson and walk-on tight end Reno Roehm for the tallest player on USC’s 103-man roster. And using rugby players in American football is certainly not something Smiley’s against.
While he was the special teams coordinator with the Buffalo Bills, he coached running back Christian Wade — an English rugby player who came to America and had several short stints with the Bills — and Travis Clayton, a 6-7 English rugby player who was drafted by Buffalo in 2024 as an offensive lineman.
Smiley loved having those guys because he was always able to train them as an emergency kicker. With more than double the roster spots at South Carolina, a catastrophe would be neccessary before the Gamecocks needed Giwa to kick. But certainly, he can block kicks, right?
“I have used offensive linemen in the past on field goal block (units), especially if they were willing and aggressive to get penetration,” Smiley said. “Long arms are always a pain in the butt for the kick team.”
So, can Giwa be an asset for the Gamecocks’ special teams this year? It’s a tall order, but there’s only one way to find out.
This story was originally published March 30, 2026 at 4:03 PM.
