The Bulls have produced 11 Springboks this season. Picture: Gallo Images
Bulls Director of Rugby Jake White was happy and excited to see another Bulls player added to the current Springbok roster this week, despite the extra challenges that it brings for his franchise.
A large number of Bulls players have been in action for the Boks this season, and after their utility forward Jan-Hendrik Wessels was ruled out of the end-of-year-tour to the UK, it opened the door for prop Wilco Louw to earn his first recall to the national side since 2021.
In total, the Bulls have nine players going on the Boks’ overseas tour, where they will take on Scotland, England and Wales, while 11 players in total will have been on national team duty by the end of this year.
“I’m very happy. You’ve heard me say for years that it is great when local players get picked, and we now have 11 Springboks. When I started here we had Trevor (Nyakane) and Duane (Vermeulen). So to now have 11 Springboks in the mix is fantastic,” said White.
“It comes with a different management skill (though),” he added.
“If take the Lions, who have no Springboks (on the year-end tour), that means the next two months is an easier transition because you are not losing players in and out of your team.
“We were fortunate to have that for a couple of seasons, but it is a very difficult juggling act in terms of cohesion and leave, upskilling other players while senior players are away.
“You also lose a lot of voice when senior players aren’t here. When they are here they talk a lot and add value. So when they leave you lose a lot. It is a very unique time for us as a club, because it is not something we have had to manage in the past four seasons.”
It is a big opportunity for prop Louw, who was a player that many fans and pundits thought had undeservedly missed out, after a superb past season for the Bulls didn’t end with a Bok call-up for the mid-year internationals or Rugby Championship.
Although he has huge competition, with Bok regulars Frans Malherbe and Vincent Koch as well as Thomas du Toit ahead of him in the tighthead queue, he will hopefully get a chance to show what he can do in one of the games on tour.
White explained that Louw was thrilled with his selection, saying: “Every young boy wants to be a Springbok. That is the pinnacle, to play for your country and for the Springboks.
“He last played in 2021, and I saw when I told him (he was selected), he was very happy. From a personal point of view, he has been away for three weeks and was planning to go home anyway.
“The Boks now assemble on Sunday and he will be away for four weeks. He has a young child so it is tough for a family.”
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