Boks get a double deal
|Published
Back at the Boks: Bulls prop Louw, centre. Picture: Samuel Shivambu/BackpagePix
Die een Bull se dood was toe sommer twee other Bulls se brood as Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus was forced to replace the versatile frontrower Jan-Hendrik Wessels with Pretoria teammates Johan Grobbelaar and Wilco Louw for next month’s UK tour.
Wessels, who can play prop and hooker, injured his ankle in the Bulls’ 23-22 loss to Scarlets in the United Rugby Championship last week – missing out on South Africa’s upcoming Tests against Scotland (10 November), England (16 November) and Wales (23 November).
Erasmus says of the Wessels blow: “Jan-Hendrik offered us the luxury of serving as a prop and hooker, but with his versatility out of the picture, we decided to call up a specialist prop and hooker.”
The Bok boss also welcomed back Louw to the Bok fold after his last Bok Test was in a 32-12 win against Argentina at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in 2021, and says: “Wilco has been delivering consistently superb performances for the Bulls this season, and he has been knocking on the door for a while now, so I have no doubt he will want to grab this chance with both hands.”
Squad update: Jan-Hendrik Wessels has been ruled out of the #Springboks' tour due to injury, with two of his @BlueBullsRugby team-mates called up as replacements - more here: https://t.co/QppBEOYg3b 🚑#ForeverGreenForeverGold pic.twitter.com/QWdrZdbRIn
— Springboks (@Springboks) October 24, 2024