VIDEO: The friendly giant has inside lane to top award
VIDEO: There are the flashy players who catch the eye and get awards, and then there are the quiet, unassuming ones who go about their business of destroying hapless counterparts week after week without much fanfare.
Bulls tighthead prop Wilco Louw is such a player.
However, his antics this season have not gone unnoticed, and there is a very good reason why the softspoken giant, often called ‘The Fridge’ or ‘QuadZilla’ – for his love of shorts – is up for the South African United Rugby Championship Player of the Year award.
And he has just been included in the URC Elite XV side together with Bulls teammates Cameron Hanekom and Jan-Hendrik Wessels.
The formidable frame of Louw is intimidating, but when he sits down in front of a laptop to talk to reporters about scrumming, playing for the Springboks, and the like, he is humble, friendly, and down to earth.
That is a far cry from the game where he often has other teams on the proverbial skates as he pushes them backward at set-piece time.
The big man, weighing in at the 140kg mark, exudes power, confidence, and technique, and when he packs down in the front row, he is rarely beaten in a one-on-one, mano-a-mano battle.
Louw is the one tighthead that is widely respected and feared, which is one of the reasons the Bulls’ Director of Rugby, Jake White, brought him back to Pretoria last season after two years with Harlequins.
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White knows the worth of a player like Louw and what a proper tighthead means to a team.
“I think that anyone who understands rugby knows a tighthead’s worth. Doc Craven always said, when they asked him what’s the most important position on the field, he said, tighthead prop.
“And they asked him the second most important, he said, the reserve tighthead prop. And he’s, I mean, Doc Craven said that many, many years ago.
“I don’t remember, in my time, I remember Os du Randt was nominated Rugby Player of the Year, but I can’t remember too many other props being close to being on the shortlist for players of any tournament.”
The late Springboks coach Kitch Christie said: ‘Give me a strong tighthead and I’ll build you a strong team’.
Wilco Louw has been one of the standout performers in the #VURC this season 💪
Here’s what he had to say on the Bulls making the semi-finals after beating Edinburgh. pic.twitter.com/MbXzuyWIUj
— SuperSport Rugby (@SSRugby) June 2, 2025
On the Sharks’ side, there is the inimitable Springbok prop Ox Nche – a smaller but equally powerful loosehead prop that has demolished international tightheads.
The popular loosehead, who coined the phrase “salads don’t win scrums,” is the one consistent performer in the Sharks’ set pieces.
He is also the all-around No. 1 player on the URC individual Top 100 rankings.
Louw, when talking about the big battle ahead in the semifinal of the URC against the Sharks this weekend, only has compliments for the men he will face in the scrums.
“It is an unbelievable honour to measure oneself against the best in the world – Ox, Bongi [Mbonambi] and Vincent [Koch] have won two World Cups together.
“It is great to measure yourself against them, and it is never easy.
“They are a front row that has been together in the scrums for a long time.”
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