Cape Town - Veteran flank Francois Louw could be called into the Springbok squad ahead of their two home Rugby Championship Tests against Australia and New Zealand.

The Springboks’ loose forward stocks have been depleted with injuries to Warren Whiteley, Duane Vermeulen and most recently, Jaco Kriel.

The Boks missed Kriel’s prowess at the breakdown during last weekend horror 57-0 loss to the All Blacks and coach Allister Coetzee is under pressure to make changes.

The addition of England-based Louw is a possibility.

"The fetching role is quite crucial, we will be looking at what we have back home and if we don’t have, certainly we will be looking at players who have been part of this squad last year and who were part of the team at the beginning of the year, for example Francois Louw and so on. Yes we will have a look at those type of players,” Coetzee told supersport.com after his side arrived back in South Africa on Monday.

Louw, meanwhile, feels "strong and fit" and has been in good form for Bath in the Aviva Premiership.

In an interview with the Bath Chronicle Louw said: "I am on standby (for South Africa). Whether or not they decide to use me, obviously there's been a couple of injuries, but I think they've got enough good men there to do a good job.



"I'm obviously torn, as I've always been, whether I'm playing there or playing here (Bath). It's a huge honour to play for your country. Any player who has represented their country can tell you that, but this is my club and a team I'm obviously very passionate about.”

Louw underwent shoulder surgery in May and was therefore unavailable for the Tests against France in June.

The 32-year-old boasts 52 Test caps, with his last appearance coming against New Zealand in Durban last year, a match the Boks lost 57-15.

