Bath Rugby can deal with Francois Louw"s early-season absence

Director of rugby Gary Gold says Bath Rugby have factored Francois Louw’s absence into their preparations for the new season after it was confirmed that the South African flanker would miss the opening block of fixtures.

The 19-cap international, pictured, is in the final Springboks squad for the Rugby Championship, which gets under way next Saturday – the same day Bath play their first friendly of the summer against local rivals Bristol at The Rec.

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   Francois Louw will miss the start of Bath Rugby’s season having been called up by the Springboks for the Rugby Championship. PICTURE: Ian Johnson / TakingPictures-Sport.co.uk

   
   

Louw will now miss the final few weeks of Bath’s pre-season training programme, with the Championship’s fixtures also clashing with rounds one, two, four and five of the new Aviva Premiership campaign.

Bath continue to boast a wealth of talent in their back-row division even in Louw’s absence, however, meaning Gold thinks the club will be able to cope while the South African is away.

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“We knew he was clearly the number one guy for South Africa in his position last season, so we’ve had time to plan for him not to be here,” said former Springboks assistant boss Gold.

“Of course we would have liked to have him with us all the way through but that’s part of what having international players in your squad is all about.

“We want all of our players to be playing international rugby and when the Championship is finished we will get to add a fantastic international player back into our squad. That will give everyone a major lift.

“It was the same last year so we know how to deal with it. What’s good is that he is still here training now, so at least we’ve had the chance to do some really good work in pre-season with him.

“He’s learnt all the moves, got to know all the new guys and everything to do with how we want the team to play this year, so it shouldn’t be a problem when he comes back in.”

Louw made himself available for club action during his off weeks with the Springboks 12 months ago and Gold hopes to have a similar arrangement this year.

The 28-year-old could therefore be available for Bath’s final friendly of the summer at home to Ospreys on Friday, August 30, as well as the Premiership clash at Saracens on Sunday, September 22.

“We hope to have him back in the weeks off but we need to analyse the fixtures to see where the Springboks are playing to see if we can make it work,” Gold added.

Louw brings Bath’s potential absentee list during the Championship up to four, with wing Horacio Agulla and front-row duo Eusebio Guinazu and Juan Pablo Orlandi having been selected for the Argentina training squad for the competition back in June.

Bath Rugby can deal with Francois Louw"s early-season absence