Francois Louw

Francois Louw
BornLouis-Francois Pickard Louw
(1985-06-15) 15 June 1985
Cape Town, South Africa
Height1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)[1]
Weight114 kg (251 lb; 17 st 13 lb)[2]
SchoolBishops Diocesan College
UniversityStellenbosch University
Notable relativeJan Pickard (grandfather)
Rugby union career
Position(s) Blindside Flanker, Number 8
Current team Bath
Senior career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2011–2020 Bath Rugby 141 (85)
Correct as of 16 June 2022
Provincial / State sides
Years Team Apps (Points)
2006–2011 Western Province 65 (65)
Correct as of 16 June 2022
Super Rugby
Years Team Apps (Points)
2008–2011 Stormers 54 (20)
Correct as of 16 June 2022
International career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2010–2019 South Africa 76 (50)
2014–2015 Springboks [a] 2 (0)
Correct as of 16 June 2022

Francois Louw (born 15 June 1985) is a South African former professional rugby union player. A flanker, he played for Western Province, the Stormers and English club Bath. He won 76 international caps for South Africa, and was part of the team that won the 2019 Rugby World Cup.

Early life

Louw was born in Cape Town and is the grandson of the former South African international Jan Pickard.[5] He attended Bishops College in Cape Town and studied rugby at the University of Stellenbosch.

Playing career

He represented the Stormers in Super Rugby, having made his debut during the 2008 season. He also played for Western Province in the Currie Cup. Louw was part of the Stormers team that lost the 2010 Super 14 Final to the Bulls.

On 12 July 2011 it was announced that Louw signed for Bath Rugby on a 3-year deal.[6]

International

Following the Super 14 season, Louw made his debut for South Africa against Wales at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. He played the entire game as South Africa won 34–31. Louw was selected for South Africa's next match, against France at his home ground, Newlands Stadium in Cape Town. Louw scored the last of five tries, helping South Africa to a 42–17 victory. After taking part in South Africa's victorious two-match series against Italy, including a try in the first Test, Louw made his Tri Nations debut in July 2010. It was the first time Louw experienced defeat as a Springbok, with New Zealand winning the game 32–12.

He has become a mainstay in the Springbok side, becoming the first choice openside flank under the reign of Heyneke Meyer. He had the second most turnovers won at the 2015 Rugby World Cup with 13.[7] He has also shown strong running and some skilful play. In 2013, against the All Blacks at Ellis Park, he made a strong run then an offload in the tackle to set up Bryan Habana for a try.

Louw was named in South Africa's squad for the 2019 Rugby World Cup.[8] South Africa won the tournament, defeating England in the final.[9]

Statistics

Test Match Record

As of 23 November 2025
Against P W D L Tri Pts %Won
 Argentina 10 8 0 2 0 0 80
 Australia 12 5 1 6 1 5 41.67
 Canada 1 1 0 0 0 0 100
 England 2 2 0 0 0 0 100
 Fiji 1 1 0 0 0 0 100
 France 4 4 0 0 1 5 100
 Ireland 5 3 0 2 0 0 60
 Italy 5 5 0 0 2 10 100
 Japan 3 2 0 1 1 5 66.67
 Namibia 2 2 0 0 1 5 100
 New Zealand 17 1 1 15 0 0 5.88
 Samoa 2 2 0 0 2 10 100
 Scotland 4 4 0 0 0 0 100
 United States 1 1 0 0 2 10 100
 Wales 7 6 0 1 0 0 85.71
Total 76 47 2 27 10 50 61.84

Pld = Games Played, W = Games Won, D = Games Drawn, L = Games Lost, Tri = Tries Scored, Pts = Points Scored

International Tries

Try Opposing team Location Venue Competition Date Result Score
1  France Cape Town, South Africa Newlands Stadium 2010 June rugby union tests 12 June 2010 Win 42–17
2  Italy Witbank, South Africa Witbank Stadium 2010 Italy tour of South Africa 19 June 2010 Win 29–13
3  Australia Pretoria, South Africa Loftus Versfeld Stadium 2012 Rugby Championship 29 September 2012 Win 31–8
4  Samoa Pretoria, South Africa Loftus Versfeld Stadium 2013 South African Quadrangular Tournament 22 June 2013 Win 56–23
5
6  Japan Brighton, England Falmer Stadium 2015 Rugby World Cup 19 September 2015 Loss 32–34
7  United States London, England London Stadium 2015 Rugby World Cup Pool B 7 October 2015 Win 64–0
8
9  Italy Padua, Italy Stadio Euganeo 2017 end-of-year test 25 November 2017 Win 6–35
10  Namibia Toyota, Japan Toyota Stadium 2019 Rugby World Cup 28 September 2019 Win 57–3


Notes

  1. ^ Louw played for South Africa in two non-test matches against World XVs in Cape Town in 2014 and 2015.[3][4]

References

  1. ^ "SA Rugby Player Profile – Francois Louw". South African Rugby Union. Retrieved 30 May 2016.
  2. ^ "Aviva Premiership Rugby". Bath Rugby web page. Premier Rugby. Archived from the original on 16 June 2012. Retrieved 24 August 2011.
  3. ^ South African Rugby Annual 2015. South African Rugby Union. 2015. p. 104. ISBN 978-0-620-62087-1.
  4. ^ South African Rugby Annual 2016. South African Rugby Union. 2016. pp. 124–125. ISBN 978-0-620-69290-8.
  5. ^ "South Africa / Players & Officials / Francois Louw". Scrum. Retrieved 16 July 2010.
  6. ^ "Bath Rugby : News : Louw commits to Bath Rugby". Archived from the original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 14 July 2011.
  7. ^ "Rugby World Cup". www.rugbyworldcup.com. Retrieved 15 November 2015.
  8. ^ "South Africa World Cup squad: Siya Kolisi wins fitness battle, Eben Etzebeth backed, Aphiwe Dyantyi dropped". The Independent. 26 August 2019. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
  9. ^ "England 12-32 South Africa: Springboks win World Cup for record-equalling third time". BBC. 2 November 2019. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
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