Hougaard in the hot seat
16 Jan 2012
RYAN VREDE reports that Francois Hougaard will be the Bulls’ first-choice scrumhalf and he is acutely aware of the massive expectation on him to succeed Fourie du Preez.
Hougaard was recruited from Western Province in late 2007 with the intention of grooming him to replace Du Preez. However, such was his talent that the Bulls’ senior players urged the coaching staff to accommodate him at wing, where he made telling contributions.
However, with Du Preez having ended a career in Pretoria – one in which he became the fulcrum around which the Bulls revolved – for a stint with Japanese side Suntory Goliath, Hougaard will get the extended run in the position he considers his best.
‘Coach Frans [Ludeke] has told me I’m the number one scrumhalf for the season,’ Hougaard told keo.co.za. ‘It is the chance I’ve been waiting for for some time and I know Fourie’s shadow will loom until I establish myself as a worthy successor.
‘That said, I’m a different player to him, more combative and robust than tactical and technical. He worked hard with me on the tactical side of things when he was still here but he always encouraged me to be my own man. That’s what I intend to do.’
The Bulls are well stocked in the scrumhalf department with the highly competent Jano Vermaak having signed in late 2011. Vermaak is set to be given a run against lesser opponents, at which time Hougaard may revert to the wing.
‘I enjoyed my time out wide. I understood the planning around me being played there and was prepared to bide my time,’ Hougaard explained. ‘Now I’m set on playing in my preferred position and showing why I think I’m a better scrumhalf than a winger. I’m open to being used on the wing from time to time, but I see myself as a No 9 and the coaches have backed me in that position.’
Hougaard appealed for patience before making absolute judgements on his suitability for the role. ‘To expect immediate success is unrealistic,’ Hougaard offered. ‘I haven’t played regularly at scrumhalf for some time. It will take some getting used to. That said I have high expectations of myself and understand my importance in the context of the team’s success. I can’t take forever to settle. There is no room for that in Super Rugby. You’ll be exposed and the pressure will snowball. But I love the challenge. I feel alive.’
He added that his ultimate goal was to surpass Du Preez’s feats at Test level. ‘I want to be the best scrumhalf in world rugby. To get there I will have to at the very least meet the standard Fourie set,’ Hougaard said. ‘But the game will evolve to a level that will probably require me to go past that standard. It’s a big challenge but I wouldn’t be able to settle for a mediocre goal.’
Read the in-depth feature with Hougaard in the current edition of SA Rugby magazine.
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174 Comments
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17 Jan 2012, 10:30 am
@Transformation-150: Nah, I am just joking. If Heyneke was appointed 4 years ago then he would have picked a Bulls team for the Boks, but many in the current Bulls team will have a better relationship with Ludeke. Since 2007 Meyer has been in the background.
He is starting to build the same relationship with Sadie, Engelbrecht and the new youngsters. One selection that will be possible though is Olivier above JdV. The main reason Oliver has not stepped up is because he has not been selected in a settled, structured Bok team and Heyneke will get the best out of him.
17 Jan 2012, 10:32 am
@grant10-136: I’m not so sure about Heyneke. I think he’s a good coach, but his strength lies in the fact that he has players at his disposal continually and build up a sense of continuity in all aspects of their rugby development. Being an international coach doesn’t afford you this luxury, especially when there is no Bok rugby identity being employed by all franchises. He will essentially try to get players to leave some the playing styles they have been employing at their franchises and trying to build something which is unfamiliar to players. This takes time. Until SA adopts a progressive coherent rugby philosophy, we will always be lagging behind.
There are no standout candidates, but a coach with prior international experience is crucial.
17 Jan 2012, 10:38 am
@Transformation-150: Sadie is such an unproven talent. All this hype only sets him up for a fail. Anyone remember hekkies? Tac does not even **** in his direction now. The stormers certainly aren’t speaking about him.
I don’t think Sadie will do as well as everyone says. We don’t live in isolation, so other teams will do their homework. If then he succeeds, fair dues to him. This year will be his first full S15 season, so 2nd season blues could still creep in next near.
Bulls vs Stormers will be a good indicator of the success of the deal. Sadie v de Jong.
17 Jan 2012, 10:39 am
The main reason Olivier has not been selected is that he is superugby player who is not quite Bok standard.
17 Jan 2012, 11:20 am
@pompies2-153: yep, look at what the hype did to nick “the real deal” koster. as soon as heyneke meyer admitted to keo that he rates sadie and he would pick him as a “bolter” in the 2011 world cup bok team, everything sadie did – a line break, an offload – were magnified by 20 in some eyes, especially keo & co.
all the best to sadie though.
17 Jan 2012, 11:23 am
@Horings-151: please, whay does he need a “settled & structured Bok team” to play at a heightened level? Brian o’Driscoll is class regardless of whether he is playing with jordan murphy or whoever in a depleted oirish team. olivier is kak period.
17 Jan 2012, 11:54 am
@stormer in a teacup-154:
people said the same thing about ma’a nonu for quite some time, and look how he turned out.
maybe heyneke will bring it out of him?
17 Jan 2012, 12:07 pm
If Heyneke thinks Olivier is our answer he is the wrong man for the job.
17 Jan 2012, 12:09 pm
Shampoo has been around the Bok team for the last 5 years. He hasn’t managed the step up. Nonu did.
17 Jan 2012, 12:11 pm
Meyer will be a good Bok coach provided he surrounds himself with the right specialists and doesn’t pick Muscle Pants as the next cappie.
17 Jan 2012, 12:21 pm
@stormer in a teacup-158:
yes, but thats just a ridiculous and reactionary thing to say.
who knows what heyneke thinks about anything right now?
besides the point is that like ma’a nonu’s story olivier may now be lacking a certain few requirements but its not beyond the realm of possibilty that heyneke could in fact coach (or have him coached by someone else) him to a point at which he will produce these abilities.
henry did exactly that with nonu.
17 Jan 2012, 12:25 pm
@au revoir mon tout noirs, au revoir…-161: wayne smith worked on nonu, even he would give up on timotei, lost cause
17 Jan 2012, 12:35 pm
Hougie is one helluva talent but not too sure he is the complete scrum half yet as he has probably not played there much!!
17 Jan 2012, 12:44 pm
@Transformation-162:
yes, but henry understood and realised what was needed (or lacking) in him and instructed smith accordingly, thats my point.
hence me saying either heyneke could /would do this or he, like henry, will understand whats needed and instruct another coach / assistant accordingly.
17 Jan 2012, 12:46 pm
@au revoir mon tout noirs, au revoir…-164: olivier is not bok material, doesn’t matter what heyneke thinks. 30 + caps and a player is STILL trying to find his feet, **** it. he is useless.
17 Jan 2012, 20:16 pm
@Transformation-165: olivier has to work on improving his game. diff between him and nonu is that nonu already had a strong physical running game before he started working on his short kicking game and passing. also learnt to pick his holes better and think about retaining the ball in the tackle before he went into contact.
olivier doesnt have anywhere near the running game of nonu so has to improve other aspects of his game. hopefully olivier will work on improving his craft but i cant see him changing very drammatically. hope i’m wrong but at this stage olivier does not look like bok material
17 Jan 2012, 20:48 pm
new era for boks…
whoever is coach….please..please farken please…..
No Spies
No Olivier
No M Steyn
assevokkenblief
17 Jan 2012, 21:32 pm
@grant10-167: definately agree with spies and olivier. spies because he’s lazy and doesnt look for work in the tight games, olivier because he just doesnt have the right stuff.
morne’s a bit harsh though. sure u dont want to build another gameplan around him but he’s still the most accurate boot in SA, in goal kicking and general play . I’d keep morne on the bench as at the very least he’d make a great mentor for the next bok 10
18 Jan 2012, 05:17 am
@bananas-49: Hougaard is the future. He’s young, fast, dynamic and has good vision. He is exactly the sort of 9 the Boks need and is the natural successor to FdP. Obviously we have to see how he fares this season. Totally agree about Juan being captain if he’s fit. The Boks don’t need fancy, flowery speeches straight out of Braveheart. They need a no nonsense cappy that puts nothing less than 100% into every tackle, every run etc. Smith has the tactical knowledge to be a captain and is a far more intimidating prospect for other teams than a flabby wobbling Smit. Smit was excellent when he was at RWC 2007 but after the B&I Lions he should’ve retired.
In my opinion Smith is the logical choice for captain now that Smit is gone. He will bring that hard edge the Boks need. The players will be more committed knowing that if they screw up they’ll have Juan’s fierce looking mug in their face rather than a little pep-talk and life coaching session from Smit.
As for Daniel captaining the Sharks, who else is there? Daniel is now a senior player at the Sharks. I’m happy with this choice. I for one am so relieve that Terblanche has gone. He was a serious liability at 13. Great bloke, he did his country proud but he overstayed his welcome by at least 2 years. Daniel may not be the biggest forward but he’s quick, extremely committed and punches well above his weight. Sharks have a decent pack but I would prefer to see more rotation of Alberts at 8. Is it true that Mjevuku has signed with the Sharks? No more Bosman please. We need new, solid centres. Viljoen will do the biz at 15 and I have no doubts about Lambie’s ability. 12 and 13 are the weak positions for me along with the wings. We need more speed there. JPP must rotate Movo and Sithole must replace Ndungane. Odwa is solid but he is a snail at 14. If Plum can sort out the backline, the Sharks will be dangerous this year. That’s my 2 rands worth
18 Jan 2012, 05:28 am
@grant10-167: Agree except Morne may still have a part to play. He was much better with Frans at 12.
Other requests:
No JdV
No Ndungane
No Rossouw
No Schalk (borderline call)
No Vermeulen
18 Jan 2012, 07:42 am
@Sydney Bok-169: Got to worry about the BMT of the Sharks …. I was lucky to be present at the Lions CC victory( 1st in about a thousand years – lol) in the final this year , and was shocked to see a band of no bodys hammer the star studded Sharks …. IMO even with all their stars they lack the killer instinct , yes they may win one or two on the road but when they come up against the likes of the Saders , Reds they will turn into goldfish again ….. I think the Sharks need to go back to the drawing board , correct me if i am wrong , i think it was 1990 when they emerged to win the currie cup , what a team spirit and style they had , this is what the Sharks need to get back to. I think a new coach and a clean up of management ( Strauli ????) needs to occur , great franchise just needs fresh blood.
18 Jan 2012, 08:57 am
http://youtu.be/CNNxntg6ZoQ
19 Jan 2012, 00:04 am
@Sydney Bok-170:
JdV? ok was a bit quiet in the WC but u cant question his class. he’s been one fo the worklds best centres for awhile now. bit harsh because i feel JdV was following a game plan and that gameplan wasnt to the benefit of the boks backs. as a player he still has a lot of class
rousouw? danie? he rocked. why not roussow?
and schalk?!?! big big call but not uncommon on this site. i’m a huge fan of schalk, his attitude and work ethic is awesome. in the WC aus vs boks game, sure he was ineffectual as fisrt reciever, but he did it , and did it over and over. bit p!ssed off in that he did shtloads of work, more work than any other boks that day, yet people are calling for him to be dropped. he stuck to the gameplan
and just got stuck in. his defence was immense in that game as well.
13 Jul 2012, 13:04 pm
In the debate of Hougaard playing wing or scrum half I can see why there was alot of comotion. Hougi is a natural athlete and he is good where ever you put him and I agree to both positions cause he picks up the game speed on scrummy and he makes sharp desisions but if you look at the facts you will see that he is a more physical player so he must not play on scrummy but wing instead. to be honnest if im the oppesit wing Ill sh*t everytime in my pants when he touches the ball because of his skills and power. I dont whant to shift this tallent around like Ruan Pinaar but what is your opinion on Francois Hougaard on Center…
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