Springbok scrum is the standard Bulls are aspiring to, says Wilco Louw

Powerhouse Bulls prop Wilco Louw says the Springboks have set the world standard in terms of scrumming, which the Bulls now aspire to ahead of their crunch United Rugby Championship (URC) clash against defending champs Munster at Loftus on Saturday evening.

Louw, who made the last of his 14 appearances for the Boks back in 2017, will have big aspirations of making the squad again, after he was included in the first Bok alignment camp of the season last month.

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With fellow front rowers Gerhard Steenekamp, who made his Bok debut last year, and Johan Grobbelaar, who was also part of the alignment camp, they will all be aiming to make a statement in the game against Munster.

Scrum like the Boks

“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,” said Louw.

“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.

“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 is fully aware of the forward battle that awaits the Bulls against the defending champs, and admits that the team that gets the upper hand will go a long way towards getting the positive result on the day.

Physical Munster

“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.”

The Bulls will also have a homecoming of sorts with former star lock RG Snyman, who has been named in the Munster traveling squad for the game after recovering from 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.