Louw to miss season start with Springboks
Francois Louw has been recalled by South Africa – meaning he will miss the start of the season for Bath Rugby. The openside flanker ruled himself out of the summer tour against England but has been picked by the Springboks for the Rugby Championship. Rassie Erasmus, SA Rugby’s director of rugby, has named a 35-man squad, including three uncapped players; fly-half Damian Willemse and loose forwards Marco van Staden and Cyle Brink. He said: “We saw the benefit and impact of Willie le Roux and Faf de Klerk in the squad during the June internationals and I want Flo [Louw] to perform a similar role for us.” Louw has represented the Boks 57 times so far. His absence means Sam Underhill is likely to wear the No7 jersey when Bath play Bristol Bears at Ashton Gate in their Gallagher Premiership opener on August 31. However, in better news for the Blue, Black and Whites, Lucas Noguera won’t be called up by Argentina for the Rugby Championship. As previously reported, the Pumas have changed their selection policy to allow players at overseas clubs to be picked for the national squad again in “extreme cases”. Last week, new head coach Mario Ledesma said he was going to ask the Argentine Rugby Union Council for permission to call-up several front-rowers, but didn’t name them. Now they have been confirmed to ESPN Argentina as Saracens tighthead Juan Figallo, and another tighthead, Ramiro Herrera, who plays for Stade Francais. Ledesma described his current looseheads, including Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro, who previously switched from tighthead, and Santiago Garcia Botta, as “good”. Had Noguera been called up it would have left Bath with only one senior fit loosehead – Nathan Catt – as they prepare for their first preseason match against Edinburgh a week on Friday. Beno Obano is out with a longterm knee injury and his replacement – new signing Jacques van Rooyen from the Lions in Super Rugby – is unlikely to be ready in time. Will Vaughan, the academy loosehead, is also likely to get game time in pre-season. The Rugby Championship, which is contested by the Pumas, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa home and away, starts on August 18 and runs until October 6. Argentina have not selected players plying their trade outside of the country since the 2015 Rugby World Cup. But, with the next World Cup in Japan in 2019, they are starting to build a deeper, more competitive squad by relaxing the rules.