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Harlequins land 20 stone Bok prop Louw

Wilco Louw during the South African national rugby team training session at Latymer Lower School on October 30, 2018 in London, England. (Photo by Steve Haag/Gallo Images)

Harlequins have confirmed the signing of South African international tighthead prop Wilco Louw, ahead of the 2020/21 Gallagher Premiership season.

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Louw, 25, will trade Cape Town for South-West London this summer following the culmination of the 2020 Super Rugby season. The Springbok, who has 13 test caps to his name, is currently embarking on his fifth Super Rugby campaign having debuted in 2015.

Handed his test debut in 2017 against the All Blacks in the Rugby Championship, Louw adds notable scrummaging expertise and international experience to Harlequins’ 2020/21 Premiership campaign.

The Ceres-born front row forward recently returned from a short stint in the French Top14 with former European Champions Toulon, providing cover during the World Cup, and will make his return to the northern hemisphere with Quins.

Speaking upon signing, Louw said: “I’m really stoked to be heading to England to play for Quins. If you ask any South African player, they all know Harlequins, its reputation is huge.

“It’s a big opportunity for me; Harlequins play an exciting brand of rugby with awesome coaches.

“Gussy has told me to bring my own flavour to Harlequins and I’m really keen to get involved. When I spoke to him in Cape Town, he was really passionate about the future, the guy is full of energy and I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone who talks about rugby and a club with that amount of passion and excitement.”

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“I’ve played with André (Esterhuizen) and I know the likes of Stephan (Lewies), so I’m really excited to already have a few friends over there to help me settle in and I’m really looking forward to making new friends at the Club too.”

Paul Gustard, Harlequins’ Head of Rugby, added: “We are delighted with the capture of Wilco for the 2020/21 season. To be successful in the Gallagher Premiership, the importance of a consistently dominant set piece is imperative and you require quality in depth in each of the tight five positions, which is crucial in maintaining competitiveness throughout the season. Wilco has already earned 13 caps for South Africa and is renowned for being a destructive scrummager, highlighted in an impressive 2018 campaign where he earned a league-leading 36 penalties at the scrum in Super Rugby.

“Wilco, at 25, is at a great age to grow with the squad that we are building, and has many years of elite rugby in him. He has the best years of his career ahead of him and I am sure under the tutelage of big Bomb he will continue to improve and get even better. Bordering 130 kilos, he is a big man who loves the nuts and bolts of tighthead work. He moves well around the field for such a big man and he will complement the quality at tighthead we have in England international Will Collier and Simon Kerrod.

“Wilco is a quality individual and comes with very good feedback on his character from all our contacts in South Africa. Having personally flown over after the Saracens game to meet him, I can testify he is without doubt the right fit and has the necessary determination to be a big success in the UK. I know our supporters will welcome him and his partner when they start their next chapter in their adventure.”

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Shellian Holland 37 minutes ago
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RedWarriors 2 hours ago
Leinster player ratings vs Sharks | 2024/25 URC

Yes. It looked like the players didn’t believe in the coaching. I hear that Sharks turnover a lot of coaches but there seems to be an issue judging by the players body language at least. The looked world beaters when scoring a point a minute against good teams early in the season though.


Attacking opportunities will be different under the Nienaber system. We saw some incisive attack and a couple of good tries against the Bulls and against Sharks.

Arguably we might get a better idea of Leinsters attack of these SA matches where the players by and large are immersed only on Leinster and not mixing time with the Irish setup.

Re the Irish setup, Farrell has to make a decision. The IRFU also. Nienaber contract ends in 2026. Should Ireland change play to something different like Leinster?

I would say yes, but if there needs to by alignment with Leinster then there must be certainty that Leinster is playing that way in 2026 onward.

That’s why I believe IRFU could have leveraged the Nienaber appointment with Leinster.

Obvious man was Felix Jones, but that bird has flown.

I don’t believe it would make Ireland world beaters. But clearly these young Leinster players are comfortable playing this way and it could make Ireland extremely difficult to beat in a World Cup which is a key attribute in winning knock out matches.


I think in the next few years we will see a SA 4 IRL 4 last 8.

They will tweak the schedule to give less disadvantage to SA. Even if that is worth 5 points per SA team, that puts almost all in play offs. More Springboks also in play perhaps.

The ‘other’ Irish provinces got hurt a little by Leinsters win dominance this year (having to play them twice). But IMO they are all building again, and although some more Leinster academy players will be released to the provinces and they will get a little centralized help the onus will be on them to find ways to close the gap with Leinster which they will start to do next year.

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