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Cometh the hour, cometh the big man. There are certain situations when size matters on a rugby field and the 6ft 7in tall, 23 stone JJ van der Mescht is the larger-than-life proof. If spectators at the Rec on Friday feel the ground beneath them shake as Northampton run out to face Bath in their keenly awaited Champions Cup quarter-final, there will be a giant-sized reason why.

Clearly Saints will also bring their razor-sharp running game but even Bath’s meatier forwards should brace themselves. There is invariably a major collision when the massive Van der Mescht thunders into contact and asks the direct questions that led South Africa to include their exiled lock in an alignment squad ahead of their July Tests against England, Scotland and Wales.

The joint-heaviest player in the Prem is particularly eager to bump into an old friend. As a youngster he was a teammate of Thomas du Toit at the Sharks in Durban and packed down directly behind the Bath prop. Running hard at his ex-colleague once the latter comes off the bench is clearly an enticing prospect. “Oh, 100%, yeah. And he’ll do the same to me. It’s a respect thing. I’ll feel disrespected if he comes in softly against me. I love Thomas. He’s a great human being who helped me a lot when I was younger.”

“Van the Man”, now 26, particularly recalls the day in his teens when he was required to test himself physically during pre-season against a bunch of older forwards including Du Toit and Tendai “Beast” Mtawarira. “I remember we trained against each other in an octagon. We had to throw each other out of the ring. It was tough. I was 18 and going in against the Beast, Thomas and the Du Preez brothers. You had to prove yourself.” Did anyone survive? “I lost. I think the Beast won.”

There will be kids around Essex still similarly scarred by the memory of Van der Mescht running at them during his brief spell as an exchange student at New Hall school. “I was already 6ft 4in or 6ft 5in at the age of 14. I was a big kid. It was enjoyable!” As a schoolboy, the son of a pro wrestler and a 6ft 3in netball international was timed at 11 seconds flat for 100m. These days he has size 16 feet and reckons only Australia’s Will Skelton needs bigger boots.

Skelton is also the player he feels he relates to most closely in terms of playing style. Both are too heavy to be lifted regularly in the lineout but try stopping either of them from close range. As the personable but purposeful Van der Mescht politely puts it: “We can do things other people can’t.”

That ability to give a team vital post-contact metres is precisely why Phil Dowson, Saints’ director of rugby, and his scrum coach Jaco Pienaar, once the Sharks forwards coach, made contact after Stade Français let Van der Mescht go. “People are getting bigger but he’s genuinely a freak,” says Dowson. “When we looked at him Jaco said he was a fly-half trapped in a second-row’s body. He also said people talk about what JJ can’t do but you’ve got to look at what he can do.”

It has proved to be an extremely happy marriage and has also rekindled Van der Mescht’s love of rugby. “Since I’ve been here something has clicked. Previously I felt like I was in a constant loop … rugby felt like a chore rather than something I loved. When I was growing up all I wanted to do was play with a rugby ball. Since coming to Saints I’ve got that passion and enjoyment back. When I get home my wife can see that I’m happy.”

Just as long, that is, as there is food in the house. Remarkably Van der Mescht fasts during the day and has neither breakfast nor lunch, preferring to eat only one meal. He has dropped seven kilos since joining Saints and currently weighs in at 146kg, depending on exactly how many barbecue steaks Pienaar has been grilling for him. “Jaco loves a braai,” reveals Dowson. “I think JJ does the eating.”

The Springboks could be the next beneficiaries. Van der Mescht is content to bide his time – “We’ve got amazing locks in South Africa and if I don’t fit into their gameplan I understand why” – but Dowson believes he has huge Test potential. “I’m delighted he’s back on the South African radar because that was one of his ambitions when he joined. There’s loads more in JJ and I’m sure people like Felix Jones will push him as well.”

For now, though, the priority is to knock over Bath. Northampton have England’s Fin Smith back fit at 10 and can also draw on the spectacular evidence of December’s 41-21 league win at the Rec. Even with a supposedly depleted lineup, their front-foot gameplan was richly rewarded with Tommy Freeman grabbing a hat-trick of tries.

This latest reunion between England’s top two sides may yet be the prelude to another full-on battle in this year’s Prem Final. Either way Van der Mescht is in bullish mood, always assuming he can squeeze into Bath’s famously cosy away dressing room. “It’s OK, I’ll get dressed outside if necessary. I feel like we’re going to give our best. We have a lot to prove and people have already written us off. We want to show we can compete in this competition.” When it comes to heavy-duty missions, Saints have the perfect man for the job.