DURBAN - Marius Louw has former Springbok and Sharks centre Deon Kayser to thank for spotting his potential as a midfielder and changing him from an openside flank to a No 12.
Louw had captained Grey College in Bloemfontein from the No 6 position and coming to the Sharks Academy in 2014, he could well have been lost amid the invariably rich stocks of loose forwards, but for Kayser’s intervention.
Louw is small by South African flanker standards, and might have struggled to make an impact at professional level, but he has the physical dimensions (95kg; 1.82m) to more than hold his own at inside centre.
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And this year he has more than held his own since stepping into the massive boots of the physical Andre Esterhuizen (he left for the UK in April), and the 25-year-old is arguably the best performing Shark since lockdown.
In fact, Louw’s courageous play is reminiscent of Kayser, who was an impressive Bok between 1999 and 2001.
“When I first got to the Sharks academy after finishing school in 2013, we did the normal testing and then when some club games came up for us, Deon explained why he felt I should move to centre. It immediately went well, we stuck to it, and I have not looked back,” Louw said.
On Saturday he and fit-again Bok Lukhanyo Am will be up against the in-form Bulls combination of Cornal Hendricks and Stedman Gans in an appetising match-up.
“We have a history with the Bulls this season, we have a point to prove,” Louw said.
“The Bulls are fresher than they were earlier year, they have done a lot of good things and credit to them, but we are focusing on ourselves and we have a plan to beat them — it is up to us to execute it, and that should earn us the ‘ W’ at the end.”
While Louw is literally no Esterhuizen given their contrast in physical dimensions, he is very effective in his own way, and his experience as a flank gives him an edge in certain situations.
“I feel that flank ties a lot into inside centre — you roam quite a lot on the field but here can also be a lot of physicality, and my days as a loose forward help me to deal with that,” he said.
Louw feels that tackling the Bulls at Jonsson Kings Park straight away levels the playing field from the Sharks’ losses at Loftus Versfeld.