 Wilco Louw | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Full name | Wilco Mario Louw | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date of birth | 20 July 1994 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Ceres, South Africa | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 126 kg (19 st 12 lb; 278 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| School | HTS Drostdy, Worcester | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| University | University of Pretoria | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Wilco Mario Louw (born 20 July 1994 in Ceres, South Africa) is a South African rugby union player for the Vodacom Bulls in the United Rugby Championship, formerly of Harlequins in Premiership Rugby. His regular position is tighthead prop.
In 2012, Louw got his first provincial representation when he was called up by Boland to represent them at the 2012 Craven Week competition in Port Elizabeth. Shortly after the competition, Louw was also named in the 2012 South African Schools squad. He played in three matches for them – against France, [1] Wales [2] and England, [3] helping South Africa to victories in all those matches.
After finishing school, Louw moved to Pretoria for the 2013 season to join the Blue Bulls. He made twelve appearances for the Blue Bulls U19 side during the 2013 Under-19 Provincial Championship, helping them win twelve matches in a row in the pool stages. He scored a try in their semi-final match with Leopards U19 to help the Blue Bulls reach the final with a 37–21 victory. [4] He played off the bench in the final against the Golden Lions U19s, a match which the Blue Bulls won 35–23 to secure the championship. [5]
In 2014, Louw was included in the South Africa Under-20 squad that participated in the 2014 IRB Junior World Championship held in New Zealand. [6] He started their opening match against Scotland [7] before playing off the bench in a 33–24 victory against hosts and four-time winners New Zealand. [8] He once again started their final pool match, a 21–8 victory over Samoa as South Africa finished top of the group to set up a rematch with New Zealand in the semi-finals. Louw came on as a replacement in their semi-final to help South Africa secure their fourth consecutive victory over New Zealand at this level, winning 32–25. [9] He made his fifth appearance of the tournament in the final, but could not prevent South Africa finishing on the losing side this time, with England winning the championship for the second consecutive year with a 21–20 victory over South Africa. [10]
Louw returned to domestic action after the Junior World Championship, making five starts for the Blue Bulls U21s during the 2014 Under-21 Provincial Championship and scoring a try against the Border U21 team [11] as they reached the final of the competition and eventually winning the title by beating Western Province U21 in the final. [12]
In October 2014, it was announced that Louw would return to the Western Cape by joining Western Province ahead of the 2015 season. [13] He was named in the wider training group of their Super Rugby side the Stormers, [14] and then included in their final squad for the season. [15] He was then named on the bench for their season-opening match against the Bulls. [16]
On 13 February 2020 Louw's signing for the 2020–21 season was announced by English Premiership Rugby club Harlequins. [17] He started in the Premiership final and scored a try against Exeter on 26 June 2021 as Harlequins won the game 40-38 in the highest scoring Premiership final ever. [18]
In July 2023, Louw returned to Pretoria, having signed with the Vodacom Bulls for the United Rugby Championship 2023-2024 season. On the move, Louw said, “It is exciting to be going back to South Africa and to be reunited with the Vodacom Bulls, I had an unbelievable time at Harlequins with great memories and hopefully we can make some great memories in Pretoria too.” He has expressed hopes of helping bring a championship home to the Bulls: “My rugby career started at the Bulls and I think it’s every rugby player’s dream to win a few trophies in their career, so I am very keen to join the team and work with great players and coaches to make that dream our reality.” [19]
Louw was called up to the Springboks for the 2017 Rugby Championship following Coenie Oosthuizen's broken arm. Louw made his debut for the Springboks off the bench in the final round of the tournament which was a 24–25 loss to New Zealand.
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