Louw knows Bulls pack will need to tame Lyon

Vodacom Bulls prop Wilco Louw may be on everybody’s lips at the moment as the Bulls scrum continues to improve since his arrival, but he knows all too well that this weekend when his side faces Lyon in their Champions’ Cup Round of 16 clash at Loftus Versfeld, they will need to get on top early.

Louw saw what happened when early dominance against Leinster last week disappeared and the Irish juggernaut roared back in the second half to smash the Bulls and with a knockout game offering no second chances, he knows the Bulls pack will have to do their talking on the field on Saturday.

“Lyon are a Top14 French team and they are always the same. They’re going to come for you in the scrums and love to maul you as well,” he said.

“They love to run as well and have some massive centres. So they’re going to have a typical physical French style of play and we need to be ready for them.”

Louw said the Bulls know they will need to be good for 80 minutes this weekend.

“You have to give credit where credit is due and Leinster is a good side. We played well in the first half and our scrums and mauls were good,” Louw said.

“We maybe just took the foot off the petrol for unknown reasons in the second half, but we definitely need to be up for the challenge for the full 80 minutes this weekend.

“Leinster put us under plenty of pressure at the breakdowns. If we can hold on to our ball at the breakdowns and focus on our scrums and mauls and get the ball to the backs it’ll be a good weekend for us.”

Louw is also looking forward to getting the chance to add to his 14 test caps as his quest to get back into the Bok team continues. His invitation to the Bok alignment camp last month showed he is making progress, but he knows you are only as good as your last game.

“It’s every player’s dream to play for your country. It is important to play well for your franchise and be consistent every week. If you focus on that at the right time, a call-up will happen.

“But for now I want to play good rugby for the Bulls and it will always be a big dream to play for the Springboks again.”