Marius Louw (born 24 October 1995) is a South African professional rugby union player for the Lions in URC and in the Currie Cup.[1] His regular position is centre, but he also played as a flanker earlier in his career.
Rugby career
2008–2013: Schoolboy rugby
Louw was born in Bloemfontein and represented the Free State Cheetahs at schoolboy level. He played for them as early as primary school level, at the Under-13 Craven Week in 2008. At high school level, he was twice selected to play for the Free State at the Under-18 Craven Week, the premier high school rugby union competition in South Africa, playing at the 2012 event in Port Elizabeth where he scored a try in their match against the Falcons[2] and at the 2013 event in Polokwane, where he was utilised as a flanker and contributed a try in their defeat to the Pumas.[3]
2014–2021: Sharks / UKZN Impi
After high school, Louw moved to Durban to join the Sharks academy. He started the first three matches of the Sharks U19's 2014 Under-19 Provincial Championship season as a flanker before moving into the backline in the centre position, where he played for the rest of the season. He started eleven of the team's twelve matches during the regular season, scoring tries in their matches against Leopards U19[4] and Blue Bulls U19[5] as his team finished fourth on the log to secure the final semi-final spot.[6] Louw also started the semi-final, but could not prevent his side losing the match 20–43 to the Blue Bulls.[7]
At the start of 2015, Louw played Varsity Shield rugby with UKZN Impi. He started four of their eight matches during the regular season, scoring eight tries. He scored hat-tricks in matches against the TUT Vikings[8] and the UFH Blues[9] and single tries against UWC[10] and Wits,[11] topping the try-scoring charts for his side and fourth overall in the competition.[12] UKZN Impi finished in second spot on the log to qualify for the final,[13] in which Louw started and helped his side to a 29–24 victory over Wits to win the title for the first time.[14]
Soon after the conclusion of the Varsity Shield, Louw was also drafted into the Sharks XV squad for the 2015 Vodacom Cup.[15] He made his first class debut on 17 April 2015, coming on as a replacement for the Sharks XV in their 13–36 defeat to the SWD Eagles in George.[16] He was promoted to the starting lineup for his home debut against the Boland Cavaliers a week later, scoring two tries in a 52–12 victory in Empangeni.[17] Another try followed in his next match against Griquas in a 24–27 defeat[18] and he started a third consecutive match a week later against the Eastern Province Kings in the team's final match of the regular season.[19] The team finished sixth on the Southern Section log, failing to qualify for the quarter-finals.[20]
Louw was named in the SharksSuper Rugby squad for the 2016 season,[27] but didn't feature in any matches for the team. Instead, he continued his development with the UKZN Impi in the 2016 Varsity Shield, making seven appearances. He scored one try against UFH Blues[28] and two against TUT Vikings[29] as his team won seven of their eight matches. UKZN Impi would have finished joint-top of the log with Wits,[30] but they had 12 points deducted for fielding an ineligible player, therefore missing out on the title play-offs and a shot at promotion to the Varsity Cup.[31]