'Yard quicker up top': Wasps' verdict on Hougaard position switch
Wasps have been singing the praises of ex-Springboks international Francois Hougaard, their scrum-half signing last summer from Worcester who chipped in with two tries from the wing when making his first Gallagher Premiership appearance in 16 weeks last Sunday at London Irish. Hougaard arrived at the Coventry Building Society Arena ahead of the 2021/22 season as a scrum-half specialist after making 78 Premiership starts as the Worcester No9 during his six seasons at Sixways.
However, frustrated by the lack of opportunity at half-back at Wasps, the 34-year-old Hougaard convinced the director of rugby Lee Blackett that he was worth a shot at playing on the wing. South Africa had primarily seen Hougaard as a scrum-half during his 46-cap Test career which spanned from 2009 to 2017, but he reminded Blackett that he had started eleven Test matches on the wing for the Springboks and that he could do a job there for Wasps if given a chance.
Having made just a single start in the Premiership as the Wasps No9, Blackett eventually selected Hougaard as a winger for the late November game against Gloucester and while the veteran has had his issues since then with injury, he mostly only now trains as a winger at the club and his start last Sunday in London was his fifth on the wing in the Premiership.
Having scored twice against the Irish, Blackett was asked by RugbyPass why Hougaard was able to excel in that position on the wing despite not having played there for years until his repositioning by Wasps. “I’d say it’s instinctive. Franny is just a ball player, knows the game and is so instinctive.
“That is why defensively he comes up with big moments and he gets on the end of tries. It’s just experience. Even if they do lose a yard of pace, they are a yard quicker up top so they get themselves in exactly the same spot and maybe even a yard or two ahead of that.”
Blackett went on to explain how the positional switch came about. “Before Christmas, he started speaking to me about wanting to play on the wing, that that was his preferred position. It’s very rare that you get that. You generally get people frustrated if you are playing them slightly out of position but he was telling me how many times he had played for South Africa on the wing and he was trying to convince me, so we gave him an opportunity and I thought he was brilliant immediately, had a lot of attributes that are really good for our wingers.
“Just his defence, he is a rock in there, he wins jackals, wins turnovers, the way he reads the game, the way he gets on the end of breaks, his work rate is infectious, he is tough and so we gave him that opportunity and since then he has only really trained there. He is probably currently our fourth choice nine just because he doesn’t train there much.
“We have got that ability for him to play at nine if needed but he actually does the majority of his training now really on the wing and he loves it there. If you just asked him he has loved the game even more. He enjoys the freedom of playing there, that is the big thing.”
Comments on RugbyPass
The Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
3 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
3 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
3 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to comments