The Vodacom Bulls have moved to bolster their scrum with the return of Springbok tighthead Wilco Louw.
While they have fixed many of their own scrum woes that plagued them in season one of the Vodacom United Rugby Championship, signing Louw is a massive deal, especially given the pedigree that he brings.
Louw will join the team at the end of the current season on a three-year deal, after Harlequins confirmed he would leave the club.
While he has shown some exceptional form in a Springbok jersey, Louw has been widely ignored by the national selectors over the last season, with Vincent Koch filling the tighthead void in the national team.
But clearly Louw wants to give it a crack to make the national squad for the World Cup and sees his future back in South Africa, following a trend of players moving home after South African teams moved into European competitions.
The 28-year old prop played most of his junior career in Pretoria, and while his talent was well-known, was strangely released back then by disgraced former High Performance Manager Xander Janse van Rensburg, and immediately snapped up by the Stormers, where he established himself as a top tighthead.
Louw left for Toulon and played just five games for the French side before heading to Harlequins, where has amassed 49 caps for the English side, scoring a try when they won the English Premiership in 2020/21.
Louw has played for the Springboks 14 times, making his debut against the All Blacks in October 2017.
“The Vodacom Bulls play an exciting brand of rugby and they have great coaches, I am excited for the new challenge ahead. I am looking forward to running out in the jersey once more and to having the opportunity in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship,” Louw said of his move to Pretoria.
“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,”
“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.”
Blue Bulls Rugby Union President, Willem Strauss added: “It is wonderful to have a top international tighthead joining us in the prime of his career! Wilco was part of our junior structures and his return will surely bolster our pack of forwards. We look forward to welcoming him home and know that he will help in contributing towards the continued growth of our franchise.”