‘Everyone wants to scrum like the Springboks’ – Bulls star sets lofty standards

Wilco-Louw-Bulls-URC-2023-PA

Ahead of their United Rugby Championship (URC) clash with Munster in Pretoria on Saturday, Bulls tighthead prop Wilco Louw revealed that they are aiming to reach the high standard set by the Springboks in terms of scrummaging.

The Boks have been leading the way in that facet of play in the international arena, and Louw, along with fellow Bulls front-rowers Gerhard Steenekamp (loosehead prop) and Johan Grobbelaar (hooker), will be determined to set a solid platform from the set-piece for their team-mates against the Munstermen.

Part of Boks’ first alignment camp

Last month, the aforementioned trio were part of the Boks‘ first alignment camp of the season, and they will be aiming to make their presence felt in the scrums against an experienced Munster front-row of Niall Scannell (hooker), Stephen Archer and Jeremy Loughman (props), who have all represented Ireland in the Test arena.

Louw, who has made 14 international appearances for his country, believes the standards set by the Boks at scrum-time is a recipe for success and something which the Bulls’ forwards hope to emulate.

“You look at the reward the Springboks get from having a really dominant scrum; I think everyone in the world wants to scrum like them,” he told the Citizen.

“It’s nice to play week in and week out, but also if there is rotation, we can still get that go-forward ball. It’s good that we get to know each other, the more we do that, the better it will go.

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“The Springboks have set the standard for the whole world. It’s not every day that you see the fullback catching the ball, calling the mark and asking for the scrum. That’s where everyone wants to go. It’s a good base for us to attack off, and hopefully, we can keep building on it every week.”

Louw knows that the forward battle will play a massive role in their battle against Munster, who are the URC‘s defending champions, and feels the team who dominates up front will in all likelihood also finish the match as victors.

“In the URC I don’t think you get one team that’s not a good scrummaging side or one team that can’t exit well. They (Munster) are a really good team, they are a good mauling side and they are very physical,” explained Louw.

“It will be good for us to keep the ball and obviously keep the momentum on our side having good scrums. Credit to them, they are a really good side, they won the URC last year and it’s really tough playing against them. Hopefully we can stick to our plan and execute our plan the best we can.”

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Former Bulls star returns

The Bulls will also be welcoming back one of their former stalwarts, Springboks lock RG Snyman, who will make his return to action in Munster’s second-row after some time on the sidelines due to injury.

“Unfortunately, he is wearing a Munster jersey, so it’s going to be a tough battle. He has been playing really well, it will be tough,” said Louw.