Bulls get good news on Wilco

The Vodacom Bulls were given some good news when the assessment came in on the injury to tighthead prop Wilco Louw, and that he is only set to miss three games for them before being able to pack down in the scrum again.

Louw returned to South Africa with an AC Joint injury and had to go for scans, with the Bulls fearing the worst news after he left the field in the win over Bristol Bears last Saturday.

But now it seems that Louw will be back on the field by the end of February, and with there being an off period for Six Nations, he is likely to only miss this weekend’s final Investec Champions Cup pool game against Bordeaux and the two derby games against the Emirates Lions as he recovers.

“Look its not as bad as we thought,” coach Jake White confirmed on Wednesday after his side returned from England.

“But he will miss a few games. We are lucky enough that we don’t play too many games between now and the end of February, so hopefully by the end of February he should be back. It may be earlier but we’re not going to take a chance, considering there is so much rugby left.”

Louw seems to have sustained a “crush injury” which was brought about by the force to the front end of the shoulder, similar to that sustained by seatbelt injuries, which is a lot more positive than an AC joint tear that is normally diagnosed.

“He just hurt his AC joint and it is not as bad as initially thought. They thought it might be his shoulder, but it is the lower form of AC injury that you can get, so it is positive.” White added.

White also confirmed that double World Cup winner Willie le Roux would be available for the match against Bordeaux-Begles this weekend due to special dispensation being given in his resting period.

“He will be back this week. His leave has been broken up into two blocks, with the first one finished, and then he will get another block in February.”

While the rest of the World Cup Springboks are still on leave, Le Roux’s situatio is slightly different because he has a personal matter to deal with. Thus, as a compromise, his leave was, with approval of SA Rugby, split into two batches.

The other Springboks - Marco van Staden, Kurt-Lee Arendse and Canan Moodie - are all likely to be back for the game against the Lions on 26 January.