Louw a ‘sponge’ whose ear is constantly turned towards role-model Vermeulen
Bulls captain Duane Vermeulen has spoken previously of fellow loose forward Elrigh Louw being a “sponge” whose ear is constantly turned towards the wisdom of his skipper, and on Monday the young flank revealed how playing under the Springbok great has been an incredible experience in his first season of senior provincial rugby.
The 21-year-old Louw has been one of the finds of the season as the Bulls won Super Rugby Unlocked and have topped the log after the round-robin stage of the Currie Cup. And now come the knockout stages and the Bulls, and especially Louw, will be leaning heavily on the experience, class and composure of eighthman Vermeulen when they take on the Lions in their semi-final at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.
“Duane is amazing, very calm and he has the type of aura you can draw energy from. When he speaks, everyone listens, and it’s awesome to play under him as captain, there’s no better guy to learn from. Growing up, there wasn’t really one guy I based my play on, but Duane was one of my role-models along with Richie McCaw and Schalk Burger.
“I just wanted to be good defensively and a good strong runner, and good on the ground too. I love contact, physical rugby is my favourite, but I also like a nice open game. I’ll play wherever my team needs me – flank, eighthman, lock, it doesn’t really matter, my play stays the same. But on Saturday, if we don’t get quick, clean ball, our whole game-plan falls flat so the focus will be on the breakdown,” Louw said on Monday.
The Pretoria-born Louw said that the excitement levels are really rising within the Bulls team as they near a potential Currie Cup final.
“I don’t really know how to describe the team spirit at the moment, we are all together as a team and playing for the guy next to you because you don’t want to let him down, you want to make your team-mates proud. As a child I used to watch the Currie Cup at Loftus and my Dad would lift me up in the air out of excitement. So it means a lot to me.
“To be 21 years old and playing in a Currie Cup semi-final, I don’t think a lot of guys have accomplished that, and to make the final would be a dream come true. For a lot of us youngsters it’s our first semi-final and I am very motivated and ready to go. You never know what to expect from the Lions, but they are definitely a very good side and they have an outstanding loose trio as well,” Louw, who hails from Hoerskool Transvalia in Vanderbijlpark and was signed for junior provincial rugby by Free State, said.