Robert James Louw (born 26 March 1955) is a South African rugby footballer who represented South Africa 19 times in international test rugby union. He also played in the Western Province teams that won the Currie Cup five consecutive times. South African rugby chief Danie Craven rated Louw as "one of the best Springboks ever to represent South Africa", "fast enough to play among the backs", and a "superb ambassador for South Africa" due to "his friendly manner and attractive personality". Louw was nominated as South African Rugby Player of the Year in 1979 and in 1984.
Background
Rob Louw was born in Wynberg, Cape Town on 26 March 1955 to one of the oldest families of Western descent in South Africa. He has two brothers, Mark and Michael. His ancestor Jan Pieterz Louw (1628–91) moved in 1658 from Caspel ter Maere in the Netherlands to the way-station at the Cape of Good Hope that the Dutch East India Company had established in 1652 (present-day Cape Town). His grandfather, Matthys Michiel Louw (b. 1855), was a nurse at the leper colony established in 1845 on Robben Island, before its transition to a prison. Rob's father, Matthew Michael (Matt) Louw, was born on the island in 1922, and served in the South African Air Force's 30 Squadron in Cairo during World War II. Matt was stationed in Italy for a while, as well as at the military installation on Robben Island in the 1940s, as a radio telegraphist. As a young man Matt had played rugby until a knee injury in 1954 ended his playing career. Due to his love of the game, Matt became a referee, a role in which he continued until he was in his 70s.
Early life
Louw received his secondary education at Wynberg Boys' High School and his tertiary education at Stellenbosch University. The Springbok fast bowler Garth le Roux was one of his school mates. Louw joined the South African Navy, where he was Sportsman of the Year for two consecutive years.
Early career
Louw gained provincial selection to Western Province's 1972–1973 school teams for Craven Week. In 1975 he was selected for a South African under-21 team that included Gysie Pienaar, Divan Serfontein, and Schalk Burger Sr.
As a student he regularly represented his university, which has the most rugby teams of any club in South Africa. At the 1979 Toyota annual national club rugby tournament, Louw scored five tries in Maties' game against Pukke, who lost 9-97. By 1990 Louw's feat still stood as the record for most tries scored by a player during the tournament. The Stellenbosch team set several other records in this 1979 encounter: most points in a match, most tries in a game (16), and the largest win margin. They not only won the 1979 tournament, but set records for most tries in the tournament (26) and most points in the competition (165). Stellenbosch beat Tukkies 27–11 in the final to emerge overall champions.
Louw played 81 times for Western Province's senior team from 1978 to 1985, appearing in six Currie Cup Finals winning three. During Province's centenary year celebrations in 1983 he played for his home team on 31 May against a Rest of South Africa team. At the time his home club was given as Defence.
He scored a try in Province's 1984 Currie Cup Final victory of 19–9 over Natal.
International career
Louw made his test début at the New Wanderers Ground in Johannesburg against a South American team on 26 April 1980. Captained by Morné du Plessis, the South Africans beat their opponents by 24–9 before a crowd of 34,000. Appropriately enough, he finished his test career just over four years later with a match on 27 October 1984 against South America and Spain at Cape Town. The increasing pressure from internal and international opposition to apartheid had rung the death knell for international competition by South Africa's sports teams. Louw had played in 28 Springbok matches, of which 19 were tests; the most notable were probably the 1980 series in South Africa against the British and Irish Lions, and the 1981 tour to New Zealand and the USA.
British and Irish Lions tour, 1980
Louw was selected for all four of South Africa's tests against the touring British and Irish Lions, and scored in each of the first two matches. His first test try came on 31 May at Newlands Stadium, his home ground. Gysie Pienaar had chipped and gathered the ball for a storming run down the right-side of the field before passing to Louw on his inside. Louw evaded a hapless John Carleton with an inside swerve, and scored from 25 metres out, despite the attempts of Lions' wing Mike Slemen. He drove for the try-line with full-back Rodney O'Donnell on his back for the last six metres, and scored before an ecstatic crowd of 40,000.
In the second test match at the Free State Stadium in Bloemfontein on 14 June, Louw scored in the 12th minute of the game. Wing Gerrie Germishuys had intercepted a cross-field kick by the Lions' Andy Irvine and sprinted down the left-side of the field, wrong-footing a retreating John Carleton with an outside-inside swerve. Germishuys passed to Louw, who gave the ball to Willie du Plessis upon being tackled himself. Louw jumped up and ran himself into position on Du Plessis' inside to take his second pass. The cross-cover defense of Ray Gravell arrived too late to stop Louw's try in the corner. Before the match The Glasgow Herald had noted the pace of Louw, matched with that of Du Plessis, gave the Springboks "a marked superiority".
New Zealand tour, 1981
The Springbok tour to New Zealand met a barrage of protests against the policy of apartheid. Protesters opposed the tour as part of an international anti-apartheid movement that believed in denying economic, sporting and cultural contact with South Africa. The movement wanted to isolate the South African government and force it to negotiate with the liberation movements, particularly the African National Congress.
On the tour, Louw shared a room with coloured flyhalf Errol Tobias. In an interview reported in The Sydney Morning Herald, Louw claimed that black and coloured players were proud of the Springboks and that rugby had created a sense of unity among South Africans. Due to his friendship with Tobias, Louw was not well-regarded by team manager Johan Claassen and coach Nelie Smith. Reflecting on the tour 15 years later, former Springbok flank Boland Coetzee praised Louw and Hempies du Toit for their efforts to make Tobias feel welcome.
The All Black visit to South Africa in 1985 was cancelled due to political pressure from anti-apartheid organizations. Trials had already been held to select a national squad. To compensate South African players for the cancellation, the South African Rugby Board selected a so-called "Shadow" Springbok team for an internal tour. The team included Louw and two players of colour, Dolly Ntaka from the black South African Rugby Association, and Wilfred Cupido from the coloured Western Province Leagues.
International caps
No. Opposition Result Position Tries Date Venue 1. South America 24 – 9 Flank 26 April 1980 Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg 2. South America 18 – 9 Flank 3 May 1980 Kings Park Stadium, Durban 3. British and Irish Lions 26 – 22 Flank 1 31 May 1980 Newlands Stadium, Cape Town 4. British and Irish Lions 26 – 19 Flank 1 14 June 1980 Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein 5. British and Irish Lions 12 – 10 Flank 28 June 1980 EPRU Stadium, Port Elizabeth 6. British and Irish Lions 13 – 17 Flank 12 July 1980 Loftus Versfeld Stadium, Pretoria 7. South America 22 – 13 Flank 18 October 1980 Wanderers, Montevideo 8. South America 30 – 16 Flank 25 October 1980 Prince of Wales Cricket Club, Santiago 9. France 37 – 15 Flank 8 November 1980 Loftus Versfeld Stadium, Pretoria 10. Ireland 23 – 15 Flank 1 30 May 1981 Newlands Stadium, Cape Town 11. Ireland 12 – 10 Flank 6 June 1981 Kings Park Stadium, Durban 12. New Zealand 9 – 14 No. 8 15 August 1981 AMI Stadium, Christchurch 13. New Zealand 22 – 25 Flank 12 September 1981 Eden Park, Auckland 14. South America 50 – 18 Flank 27 March 1982 Loftus Versfeld Stadium, Pretoria 15. South America 12 – 21 Flank 3 April 1982 Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein 16. England 33 – 15 Flank 1 2 June 1984 EPRU Stadium, Port Elizabeth 17. England 35 – 9 Flank 9 June 1984 Ellis Park Stadium, Johannesburg 18. South America 32 – 15 Flank 1 20 October 1984 Loftus Versfeld Stadium, Pretoria 19. South America 21 – 13 Flank 27 October 1984 Newlands Stadium, Cape Town
Playing abroad
L'Aquila, 1980–1985
Louw was probably the first rugby player of international standard to play rugby in Italy regularly, from 1980 to 1985. Louw played in the L'Aquila team of 1980–1981 which won the Italian league title, beating Treviso 39–33. He later returned to coach Rugby Roma.
Wigan, 1985–1987
After the cancellation of the 1985 All Black tour to South Africa due to South Africa's apartheid policies, Louw joined the professional rugby league club Wigan in England, accompanied by Springbok teammate Ray Mordt. Louw and Mordt's actions caused Danie Craven to inveigle against "traitors", in the context not only of the antipathy between rugby union and rugby league, but also because rugby union at the time was committed to amateurism as guiding principle. In order to sign on at Wigan, Louw and Mordt had to relinquish their amateur status, which excluded them from further involvement with rugby union at the time.
Initially Louw had to play in Wigan's second team, but recently appointed New Zealand coach Graham Lowe soon included him as a lock, alongside Ian Potter, in the first team. Despite good performances by Louw and fellow-South African Nick du Toit in the last games of the season, Wigan lost by one point to Halifax in the race for the 1986 British rugby league title.
Rob Louw appeared as a substitute (replacing Ian Roberts) in Wigan's 15–8 victory over Oldham in the 1986 Lancashire Cup Final during the 1986–87 season at Knowsley Road, St. Helens, on Sunday 19 October 1986.
In 1987, Louw was on the reserve bench but was not used when Wigan beat Warrington to retain the John Player Special Trophy, while Mordt did not make the team. Louw made enough appearances to win a league medal as Wigan won the league in 1986/87.
World XVs, 1984, 1997
Louw was selected for two world fifteen matches abroad, both in 1984, and he also played for a South African invitational team against a World XV in 1997.
To commemorate the completion of Cardiff Arms Park, an invitational Wales Rugby Union President's XV was selected to play Wales in 1984. Louw was appointed captain of the President's XV, which included All Blacks Gary Whetton and Steven Pokere, Australian Roger Gould and Peter Grigg, and fellow-South Africans Wilfred Cupido (a coloured player, selected for the Springboks' internal tour of South Africa in 1985) and Henning van Aswegen. On 3 April the World XV encountered Crawshay's Welsh Rugby Football Club at Stradey Park in Llanelli.
Louw was included in the RFU President's XV five months later that played against England on 29 September 1984. Danie Gerber, Errol Tobias, and Rudi Visagie were among his teammates, while the England squad included Rob Andrew, Rory Underwood and Clive Woodward.
In 1997, Louw played in a South African team against a World XV in Stellenbosch to benefit Keith Andrews and Robert Jones. The South African team included Danie Gerber, Breyton Paulse and Nick Mallett, while the World XV boasted Scotland's Gavin Hastings, the Frenchmen Philippe Saint-André and Philippe Sella, Wales' Phil Davies, and England's Peter Winterbottom and Mike Teague.
Classics tournaments