Louw loving Pretoria ‘honeymoon’
Newly married flank Francois Louw will look to remedy the Springboks' breakdown blues against Samoa at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.
Louw, who got married last weekend and consequently missed the 30-17 win over Scotland, has delayed his honeymoon to rejoin the Springboks in Pretoria ahead of Saturday’s encounter with the inform Pacific Islanders.
The 28-year-old was happy to be back in the Springbok camp, quipping, "It is a great place for a honeymoon. The first training session quite literally took my breath away with the altitude."
On a serious note, Louw said: "I left last week Wednesday and I missed the second half of the week but coming back now, everything is just falling back into place.
"The environment the guys have created at the Springboks allows for something like that, and for you to slot back into your place within the squad and contribute as much as you can."
The Bath back row forward echoed Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer’s recent sentiments regarding the inconsistent officiating of the breakdown by northern and southern hemisphere referees but believes a minor technical adjustment to their approach of the tackle area would do wonders for the Springboks this weekend.
"I think different refs interpret it differently and it is a difficult area to referee and to enforce the law because there are so many variables that go in there.
"Scotland really did target the breakdown and that is definitely a trait of Northern Hemisphere sides.
"It comes down to the simple fact that you've got to control the breakdown and, as a side, you have to go in hard, strong, with a good body position and provide quick ball and let the rest sort itself."
Louw added that he feels last weekend’s underwhelming performance with have a positive spin-off for the Springboks against Samoa, who head into Saturday’s clash following wins over both Scotland and Italy.
"It was obviously not the game we were hoping to play as a side. We underperformed and we underachieved," Louw conceded.
"But a lesson well learned and sometimes you need these kinds of games to put things back into perspective."
