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Cape Town - Francois Louw may be based in England these days, but he knows all too well that a successful Springbok side goes a long way towards uniting South Africa.
The 34-year-old loose forward has been playing his rugby for Bath since 2011 to make him the longest-serving overseas player in the current Bok squad, but he remains incredibly passionate about South Africa.
"Hopefully, it will inspire them greatly," Louw told media on Wednesday when asked what the Bok World Cup run would mean to South Africans.
"It might be difficult to explain to non-South Africans but it generally makes your week a lot better when the Springboks have won at the weekend.
"Even at times when I haven’t been involved, if the guys do the job, it makes life go a little bit easier. People tend to forget about their personal troubles, and we have a large scope of that in South Africa.
"We do hope South Africans take pride in our performances and create hope.
"There are lots of challenging times in people’s lives, but if we can make that little bit of difference by putting great performances together, and being a beacon of hope, then that is something we will try and do."
Louw, who made his Test debut all the way back in 2010, has 74 Test caps to his name.
He is expected to start on the bench in this Sunday's semi-final against Wales in Yokohama.
Kick-off is at 11:00 (SA time).
