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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16 Jan 2012, 14:16 pm
Yes it is official, Daniel is the guppy captain and Bissy the vice captain.
Not that it makes a difference to me but I would have retrenched Daniel and used the loose trio of Deysel (6) Alberts
16 Jan 2012, 14:17 pm
It is good to be talking rugby again, Boks if chosen correctly actually have a stronger post RWC team than before !!
Only man missed will be Vic and we may get his brains as consultant if SARU are awake ??
16 Jan 2012, 14:22 pm
@Jeraldjay-50:
yip.
16 Jan 2012, 14:24 pm
Stupid phone!
Alberts (7) and Coetzee (8). Then invest in a young openside who will set on the bench to eventually replace the limited Deysel.
Oh and did I say retrench Kankowski as well?
16 Jan 2012, 14:27 pm
@RL-54:
lebowski’s still there?
16 Jan 2012, 14:32 pm
@au revoir mon tout noirs, au revoir…-55:
Yes that dodgy player is still there, he has clearly lost his starting position to Daniel, or perhaps Deysel has lost his position to the nothing Daniel, regardless, it seem that the one player to miss out will be Coetzee who really should be starting.
16 Jan 2012, 14:37 pm
Only a fool would be confident of picking the SA Conference champs. If past seasons are any guide the fancied SA teams have failed to deliver more often than not. The only constants seem to be that the Cheetahs will struggle as they seem to lose too many stars to maintain depth, and the handicaps that hamstrings the Lions will also gnaw away at their attempts to put together a top squad. As for the other three, injuries or lack thereof, selections and tactics can derail any one of them or propel them to success.
Wait and see.
16 Jan 2012, 14:50 pm
@RL-56:
the world really is a crazy place.
coetzee is taller and heavier but a tad on the young side though.
16 Jan 2012, 15:01 pm
@Tacitus-40:
Last year the stormers got the sought after 2nd position and still got beaten in the semi by a tired and over travelled team at home. Very embarrassing situation.
16 Jan 2012, 16:48 pm
Hougaard has the perfect attitude and will do well in any position he plays in. Still dream of a 9. Hougaard, 10.Lambie, 12. F Steyn combo in the Bok side, would be awesome
16 Jan 2012, 17:41 pm
I was just watching a re-run of Carel du Plessis’ opening try against the ’84 British visitors. The ball retention and ball skills exhibited by the Bok backs then are far in advance of any current SA backline, provincial and national. It makes me sad
16 Jan 2012, 18:28 pm
Without fail, every thread exposes the same old immature, non-sensical garbage from these mostly middle-aged empty vessels.
Nothing substantial and nothing of real substance to be read.
Let me change that and give you some of the ‘Right Stuff’, albeit S. African-style, and that is CORRUPTION, big time too and spiced with a flavour of an attempt at legality, but still CORRUPTION:
{{ Bacher to explain R5 MILLION ‘BONUS’
Former SA cricket chief Ali Bacher is expected to explain the alleged payment of R5 million in bonuses when the Sports Ministry’s inquiry into cricket resumes in Pretoria on Tuesday.
Cricket SA (CSA) CEO Gerald Majola pointed fingers at Bacher in December, telling the committee that the former United Cricket Board general manager had pocketed R5 million after the 2003 Cricket World Cup, which was hosted by South Africa.
Bacher accepted a request from the committee, chaired by Judge Chris Nicholson, to give a verbal statement and he will face the inquiry on Monday afternoon.
John Bester, the CSA finance committee chairman, is scheduled to appear in the morning, and Norman Arendse, a former CSA president, will give his verbal submission on Tuesday.
The Sports Ministry said “more days and witnesses” could be added to the schedule.
The committee received over 30 written submissions and interviewed 20 or more witnesses last year.
Nicholson said after the inquiry adjourned in December, for six weeks, that the committee would analyse the evidence, which included over 5000 pages of written documents.
After further submissions this week, a final report would be handed to Sport and Recreation Minister Fikile Mbalula by the end of February.
Mbalula is not obliged to accept the committee’s recommendations.
The Nicholson inquiry was announced by Mbalula after auditing firm KPMG recommended that CSA’s remuneration and travel allowance policy be reviewed.
A KPMG audit found that bonus payments to staff had not been fully declared to the federation’s remuneration committee, and that Majola had breached the Companies Act on at least four occasions. – Sapa }}
Clearly ‘religious’ orientation differences does not really seem to be a deterrent. It is the mmasters of disasters at work at their best.
16 Jan 2012, 18:29 pm
Who is Lebowski!!!!???
16 Jan 2012, 18:41 pm
The latest Bacher update hot off the press!!!:
{{{ Bester: I wasn’t there to protect Majola
January 16 2012 at 02:55pm
Cricket SA CEO Gerald Majola should have fully cleared bonus payments through the relevant channels, CSA finance committee chairman John Bester said on Monday.
“My feeling is that sort of thing should have been put before the remuneration committee,” Bester told a ministerial inquiry into cricket.
He served on the Khan commission, which cleared Majola last year, giving him a warning after an internal inquiry into R4.7 million in bonuses paid to CSA staff in 2009.
Bester told the inquiry, chaired by Judge Chris Nicholson, that the Khan commission had been necessary.
“The way you conduct an investigation of this nature is internal first, then external,” he said.
“If issues arose beyond the confines of the internal investigation, an external committee would then become relevant.”
A KPMG audit later found that Majola had breached the Companies Act on at least four occasions, but Bester denied that the Khan commission had covered up anything.
“I wasn’t there to protect. I was there to investigate,” he said.
Former United Cricket Board of SA managing director Ali Bacher was scheduled to appear before the inquiry later on Monday.
Bacher was expected to explain an alleged payment of R5 million in bonuses he received, according to Majola, after the 2003 Cricket World Cup.
The Nicholson inquiry adjourned for six weeks in December and resumed on Monday morning.
Former CSA president Norman Arendse was expected to appear before the inquiry on Tuesday.
Arendse was the last person included in the latest schedule for verbal submissions, but the sports ministry said more people could be added to the list. – Sapa }}}
The adherents of the present ruling authorities clearly were/are only aping the worst moralities of their previous ‘MASTERS’ but it is all wrong nonetheless.
This is the ‘RIGHT STUFF’ and is clearly of substance and meaningfully substantial and the real S. Africa from time immemorial.
Even on MLK Day the poor and down-trodden are NOT “Free at Last” as they are still in bondage to the greedy.
16 Jan 2012, 18:42 pm
@ET.-62:
Why do you present something we’re all aware of and despise as if you’re the font of all knowledge?
Unfortunately, the professional sports world is riddled with corruption and cronyism worldwide.
16 Jan 2012, 18:45 pm
@Michael-61:
You miss the difference?
Then it was for the LOVE of the GAME.
Now it is all for the love of MONEY. You do not need any skills for that.
Even the corner ‘dagga-smokkelaar’ is a wealthy BUSINESSMAN.
Such is the business world.
16 Jan 2012, 18:46 pm
“is clearly of substance and meaningfully substantial”
We were taught in high school not to talk kuk twice.
16 Jan 2012, 18:47 pm
@ET.-66: Amazing how a bunch of gifted amateurs had more skills than our currently highly paid boys. The difference imo is that the coaching back then was far superior, even if the conditioning wasn’t.
16 Jan 2012, 18:49 pm
@David-65:
Then give it AIR, give it AIR and bring it to the light of day.
And I do not miss your subtle lie as not too many even know the crook Bacher(no matter how he presents this) as much as they know the crook Majola.
I know which part of the puzzle you fit even though not S.A. born.
16 Jan 2012, 18:52 pm
Because yours clearly stinks substantially worse.
Try countering the facts and ideas.
Give my fondest regards to your tea-master, David, girl(tea) as I am off to tea and snacks in the City of Angels.
16 Jan 2012, 18:59 pm
Huh?
16 Jan 2012, 19:01 pm
@ET.-70:
Ah, the skill of the unsubstantiated and vague insinuation masquerading as intellect.
16 Jan 2012, 19:07 pm
@David-72:
Unsubstantiated?
Are you suggesting that you(humans) do not express yourself in every word and every deed amongst other things?
Maybe you can fool your tea-GIRL with that.
Bye now.
16 Jan 2012, 19:15 pm
Dawn @ 67
Hehehe…
He thinks that simply regurgitating “twice-passed-poo” makes it more palatable… and makes him sound more intellectual…
but doesn’t realise that to do so taints his breath with the distinct whiff that has everyone checking the soles of their shoes to see who brought it into the chat-room…
16 Jan 2012, 19:22 pm
As Al Pacino so eloquently put it:
“I’m too old too tired and too f[ecking blind”
16 Jan 2012, 19:28 pm
Well don’t know how true this is, as always there is always two sides to a story.
Lions still in the black Mon, 16 Jan 2012 17:07
Golden Lions Rugby Union President Kevin de Klerk has beaten off the latest media onslaught on his union with the same efficiency that saw his team secure Currie Cup glory last year.
De Klerk, speaking to this website in an exclusive interview on Monday, dismissed reports that his union is facing liquidation.
Following rumours on social media platforms, weekend newspaper reports suggested the GLRU’s former equity partners, the Guma TAC Group, may initiate steps to have the Currie Cup champions liquidated.
This follows similar unsubstantiated reports – both in the social, electronic and print media – late last year that the union was unable to pay its players.
The latest rumours – believed to have originated from sources within the Guma group -suggested that the GLRU’s former equity partner has initiated the liquidation process after it failed to recoup money allegedly owed to it by the Lions.
Guma boss Robert Gumede walked out on the partnership when tension between the two groups boiled over, following a number of boardroom disagreements that turned into an ugly public spat.
However, despite predictions by Gumede that his departure will be the end of the GLRU, the Lions not only found a new equity partner in Glasfit boss Altmann Allers (who is also the GLRU deputy president), but they went on to win the Currie Cup and met all their financial obligations.
“I can state categorically there won’t be any liquidation [of the GLRU],” De Klerk told this website.
“There were certain monetary advances [from Guma] as part of the equity deal they walked away from and we now have to determine exactly what money was advanced for what purpose,” the Lions boss added.
“Our lawyers and their lawyers are now involved in a process to understand the exact amount they are claiming back … that is the long and short of it.”
De Klerk said he was aware of the reports that the Guma Group want to apply for liquidation, but added there are certain conditions that have to be met before any company can take such action.
“You can only be liquidated if your debts exceed your assets and I can say truthfully that is not the case [with the GLRU].
“Our assets exceed our debts considerably and we also have Altmann [Allers, the owner of Glasfit and GLRU deputy president] who has stepped in as our new equity partner.
“He has already invested substantially in the GLRU.”
De Klerk admitted that there will be challenges for his union this coming season, but put it down to “legacy issues” which he inherited.
“Those we will resolve in time,” he said, adding: “There is no prospect of liquidation – we remain open for business as usual.”
He explained that the financial windfall as a result of the Lions hosting both a Currie Cup semifinal and Final (the latter attracted over 50,000 spectators) made a substantial contribution to alleviating any remaining financial issues.
“A win like that [in the Currie Cup Final] also opens other doors for you … it certainly had a very positive effect on our business.”
And the GLRU President, De Klerk, in an interview with this website last year, revealed that the union was going through a process of ‘right-sizing’.
This include reducing the number of players in the union’s books, terminating as many as 13 players’ contracts.
Asked about the reasons behind the right-sizing, De Klerk said they could not afford to live beyond their means.
“I would like to explain it this way: If you have just R100 to spend and your shopping list costs R120, you have to cut something out,” De Klerk said at the time.
“We are now going through that process, it is a long-term process. You can’t keep living hand-to-mouth.
“Unions depend on bums on seats, sponsors, those things for their income. We went through 12 lean years [poor attendances due to poor results] and this union really struggled.
“We are busy with that repair job and it is a tough task.”
The Guma boss, Gumede, was not immediately available to comment on the reports of his company’s ongoing spat with the GLRU.
16 Jan 2012, 19:30 pm
And the award for the silliest foreign blogger goes to…
16 Jan 2012, 19:35 pm
@RL-76:
Kevin has it slightly wrong. You can be liquidated if you don’t have the liquidity to pay your debts. Assets only have value, other than on a balance sheet, once they’re realised.
16 Jan 2012, 19:39 pm
@the artist formerly known as gunther-77: let’s see it can’t be black panty, he finally bought a new one and it is pink, now being lazy he will not update his profile to pink panther. Poops69 is still locked up in a mental asylum and Cane is just insane worrying about the escaped Lion roaming the streets of Wellington.
That leaves HendrikPrick, Tickles and that two letter git!
I’d say the git.
16 Jan 2012, 19:40 pm
hell….That Lions Union may truly be in the kak…good luck chaps….sleepless nights there I reckon……not a cool position to be in…ever
16 Jan 2012, 19:40 pm
@ufo-74:
Like a number of academics, ET is like someone who works in the palace kitchen believing they’re royalty.
16 Jan 2012, 19:41 pm
Who can say with any great confidence what SA team will win the super 15 or the sa conference, the usual press favourites the sharks and the 2nd raters have won NOTHING lately yet they have the cheek to make them favs.The bulls will be an unknown entity this season and i have confidence in them to perform well,do not underestimate the bulls if wen can win our first game against the guppies that will set them up well and give them a lot of confidence.Go bulls and prove them all wrong.
16 Jan 2012, 19:51 pm
David @ 61
Too true David… too true.
16 Jan 2012, 20:02 pm
Aaagh gunts he aint foreign he just act that way.
16 Jan 2012, 20:02 pm
Foreign my eye! He’s homeless!
16 Jan 2012, 20:41 pm
@RL-79:
Whaddabout me?
16 Jan 2012, 21:04 pm
@David-78: Correct. We sometimes refer to that as technically insolvent, which is when an entity or organisation is unable to meet it’s obligations on a day to day basis.
They may well have assets that can possibly cover the total liabilities but are still unable to meet their financial commitments.
In a similar way you can also be technically insolvent if you are still trading with some liquidity but your liabilities exceed your assets,
This has implications for transactions incurred during this period which could be nullified if a liquidation is eventually carried out,
Many people believe that it is just the 6 months prior to insolvency that can be nullified (to protect creditors) but also any transaction carried out whilst technically insolvent prior to this too.
The challenge there is in the proof usually.
I really hope the Lions get themselves through this. I tease the Lions supporters but they have my utmost respect for their positive attitudes over the last few years in the face of very poor performance from their team.
16 Jan 2012, 21:21 pm
Stormersboy you bloody textbook
16 Jan 2012, 21:31 pm
@stormersboy-87:
I like the Lions as well. In fact, I reckon that a number of the current squad should feature in a new Bok squad. Having said that, the S15 will sort the wheat from the chaff.
16 Jan 2012, 21:39 pm
@Dawn-88: Hahaha sorry Dawnie. i can get a little technical sometimes.
It’s the inner nerd in me.
Had a pretty exhausting day actually, my son turned 10 today so you can imagine.
@David-89: Agreed, and I usually find your opinions to be close to the money. If they have a decent Super comp it would be a travesty not to include at least 4 or 5 in the greater squad that I can think of.
I’m very keen to see how they do in the warm up tournament. Last year they looked really good and you could see even then the potential that could be unleashed if they just upped their self belief a little. I remember they beat the Sharks in the one game if I’m not mistaken.
16 Jan 2012, 22:31 pm
Love this headline, it must have had some in a spin
From iafrica.com:
Bismarck is second fiddle again
Having played second fiddle to John Smit for most of his career, Bismarck du Plessis will again be a back-up at the Sharks in 2012.
Sharks coach John Plumtree revealed on Monday that loose forward Keegan Daniel would captain the Sharks in 2012, with seasoned Bok hooker Du Plessis as his deputy.
Plumtree feels these are two players who “lead from the front” and that staying with Daniel – who was also the Sharks’ Currie Cup captain year – would allow for some continuity in Durban.
“I was really impressed with Keegan during the Currie Cup last year, the way he grew as a leader in what was a difficult campaign,” Plumtree said on the Sharks’ website.
16 Jan 2012, 23:14 pm
True to form the ever sensitive and defensive but nonetheless opportunistic(suffering from previous damage) rat-pack rushes to the aid of a stumbling foreign rat. You can count and name them all – anywhere from 2 to up to 20 rush over each others backs thinking that the cage is open and there is a killing for food to be made.
The pack mentality is one sure thing you can always take to the bank here. It is not unlike the certainty of night following the earlier day.
Stupidity reigns so supremely among them that for years now they do not conjure up the notion that I am only interested in the TRUTH about my genuine homeland. But it is ALL the TRUTH that gains my focus whether it is positive or negative. Such is the demands made on anyone truly interested in science(its latin root ‘scientia’ simply means knowledge).
Consider:
1. Scientia est potentia – knowledge is power
2. Scientia non habet inimicum nisp ignorantem – science has no enemies but the ignorants.
17 Jan 2012, 01:16 am
Let the rugby begin. It’s anyone’s game.
17 Jan 2012, 03:38 am
@blueboy-82: just love you guys talking UP your teams…always the same spiel and always the same (mostly) outcome…I just wish guys from SA would just let the team do the talking….I still think Aussie and NZ are still way ahead of SA in how the game is played and the philosophy of how it needs to be played….Trans-Tasman Teams will win the day…
17 Jan 2012, 03:41 am
@bananas-52: you eating something you should my man??? a better post RWC team…dont think so…Boks will still get beaten by better organised and drilled teams…that Aussie and NZ have…but Boks will learn as they should do to be a better team…
17 Jan 2012, 06:10 am
Man, they are peddling some strong **** in the sewers of Philly.
17 Jan 2012, 06:14 am
extra-testicular @ 92
hehehe…
you can’t wait to play the poor lonely victim… you write comments on a public blog and then complain when others respond…
guess that’s appropriate when we consider your well-established groot krokodil finger-wagging style and rubicon crossing ‘revelations’ the rest of us have long since moved beyond…
you are neither unique, alone nor a martyr… anyone who makes absurd posts on this site is going to get ripped by the rest… it happens to all of us… so as single-out as you’d like to feel… no special effort has been made to gather in defence or offense of anyone… sorry for the reality check…
you speak of science… yet you ignore the very basis upon which all science is based… observable fact… and continue to post your passé assumption-based opinions as fact and make the most silly presumptions about people based on nothing more than your own desperate, sad relevance-seeking need to boost your alarmingly fragile, low self-esteem…
17 Jan 2012, 06:14 am
By the way ignorant is the plural as well as the singular – like sheep. I guess you were ignorant of that.
17 Jan 2012, 07:30 am
Hang on, did extra testicle refer to “you humans” in post 73?
What manner of organism are we dealing with here, then?
Poor command of the English language, meaningless and repetitive pseudo scientific drivel, periodic difficulties in making himself understood, seemingly alien psychological make up.
I think we’re on to something here.
17 Jan 2012, 07:38 am
Indeed tac.
I tgink we can safely assume that extrabollock was one of the aliens that abducted and probed grantie.
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