Bulls wait anxiously on Wilco Louw injury diagnosis

The Vodacom Bulls will have an anxious wait on the injury to powerhouse tighthead prop Wilco Louw, who was injured in Saturday’s Investec Champions’ Cup win over Bristol Bears at Ashton Gate.

Louw left the field clutching his shoulder and coach Jake White later confirmed it was an AC Joint injury that will be looked at when he gets back to Pretoria on Monday.

Either way it seems very unlikely that Louw will be available for selection for the crunch game against Bordeaux-Begles at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday and the Bulls are likely to look for a replacement this weekend.

White, who is a veteran of coaching, knows that injuries are part and parcel of the game and while he will be hoping Louw recovers sooner rather than later, believed the Bulls have enough depth to cover the injury.

“It’s an AC Joint,” White said after the game, “But we will have to wait until we get back home to do scans and see what that means.”

White said there were options to replace Louw, who had formed a formidable front row with Gerhard Steenekamp.

“Khutha (Mchunu) played really well if you consider he has just joined us this season and we have Mornay Smit still available. We also have one or two players coming back so we should have enough players available to cover the position.”

The Bulls scrum was exceptional on Saturday, winning six straight scrum penalties, so much so that a yellow card forced the scrums to go uncontested and Bristol to go down to 13 as they didn’t have a back up tighthead.

White said that when the side heard that England’s World Cup props Ellis Genge and Kyle Sinckler weren’t going to play, he knew it was an area that the Bulls could target.

“To be fair, we did say before the game without Ellis Genge and without Kyle Sinckler, it was always a place we were going to target. But it is pleasing. Especially when the first choice guys went off and we were able to apply pressure.

“The old adage that the forwards win the game and the backs decide by how much is exactly what happened,” he smiled.

The Bulls had plenty more reasons to smile after grabbing a bonus point away from home and taking another step forward towards qualification for the Round of 16.

Currently they need just one point from their final game at Loftus Versfeld against Bordeaux to ensure qualification, but will want more to obtain a higher seeding for the next round.

The performance of what effectively amounted to a mix and match squad was an elixir for White, who knows there are players now pushing for selection against some of the more fancied teammates. One of those was Devon Williams, who is on loan from the Pumas, but showed more than enough game maturity and counter-attacking abilities to have a hand in a number of the Bulls tries and won the man-of-the-match award with relative ease.

Williams has grown since joining the Bulls and looked in his element from the back, combining well with the Bulls wingers and taking his chance with gusto.

White added that the performance would heighten competition in the squad, and that can only be a good thing.

“Everyone knows he is a great talent and I’m so glad everytime we ask him to step up he does it. What it does, it creates competition in the squad. Willie (Le Roux) is a two time World Cup winner and now he has a younger guy, who is in form in his position. Any coach will tell you that when you have that sort of competition and that sort of competitive form, it makes it so much better for your team.”

There were all round great performances for the Bulls by a number of players, but White waxed lyrical about the two youngsters controlling the lineouts – Jan-Hendrik Wessels, who scored a fabulous intercept try and Reinhardt Ludwig, who was denied a try by some elaborate interpretations by the reffing team. Both were exceptional in their core competencies on Saturday as well.

“A 21-year hooker, 21-year old tighthead lock calling the lineouts. I’ve said it many times, but when you get a result like that and we are still very young as a team. But when you get a result like that, I’m sure it is going to help us build for the next few years as well. I’m really proud of not only those guys tonight but the way the whole team gelled tonight.”

But while the smiles will be on their faces as they return to Loftus Versfeld, the news on Louw will be key to how the rest of their season goes.