Hougaard ruled out of Boks' Rugby Championship

[Jaguares]

Springbok and Bulls scrumhalf Francois Hougaard has effectively been ruled out for the rest of this years rugby season including the Currie Cup and the Rugby Championship.

Hougaard played for the Bulls in their Super Rugby Semi-final loss to the Brumbies and needs surgery on an ankle injury.

Deon Stegmann who also played in the Semi-final is also expected to miss the rest of the rugby season due to a shoulder injury.

Stegmann also requires surgery and will not be available to play for the rest of the season.

Blue Bulls team doctor Org Strauss has confirmed that both players will have their operations in the next week.
Hougaard's injury most likely means that Jano Vermaak will be called up for the Rugby Championship with Piet van Zyl and starting number 9 Ruan Pienaar.

 

[Big Ewis]

yeh I know, this suuuuuuuuuuuuucks....was looking forward to seeing him this time around. Haven't seen much SR...

 

[TRF_heineken]

Fourie Du Preez has been chosen back in his place! Woohoo! Our General is back!

 

[Draggs]

FdP hasn't performed since 2007. SH is a weak spot for SA.

 

[TRF_Ezequiel]

Wow. Looks like HM will never learn. In his 2nd year of rebuilding, he ignores the talent we have in Reinach, van Zyl, Vermaak and others and picks Fourie du Preez to be our scrum half.

This goes completely against his so-called 4-year plan to revamp the Bok team. Steenkamp is also back. Awful decision. Those guys won't be good enough once the RWC is around the corner so what's the use of selecting them when you are preparing for that tournament?

 

[psychic duck]

FdP hasn't performed since 2007. SH is a weak spot for SA.

FdP was the best scrum half in the world from 2006-2009, and up there with Joost as one of the greats. You forgotten South Africa 2009, or Bulls 2009 and 2010? du Preez was the most valuable player. I don't know what you're on about here.

Wow. Looks like HM will never learn. In his 2nd year of rebuilding, he ignores the talent we have in Reinach, van Zyl, Vermaak and others and picks Fourie du Preez to be our scrum half.

This goes completely against his so-called 4-year plan to revamp the Bok team. Steenkamp is also back. Awful decision. Those guys won't be good enough once the RWC is around the corner so what's the use of selecting them when you are preparing for that tournament?

None of those scrum halves will likely ever be as good as du Preez. Much like the overhyped Hougaard has never been, the SA half backs have been incredibly average ever since FdP left. You don't beat the All Blacks with average military medium players like overhyped Hougaard and Lambie running the show.

Rugby is a results business. I suspect the same people criticising the call ups of proven top level internationals were also some of the same lambasting the Boks performances with a transitional team full of débutantes. Meyer can't seem to win.

 

[Draggs]

For some reason I keep thinking Pienaar was the SH after 2007. He was played a bit at standoff and I swear a test at fullback.
FdP wasn't stellar in the 2011 WC, think he missed a decent chunk due to injuries 2010/11 didn't he? I just am not sure how much he can offer after playing in Japan for two years.

 

[psychic duck]

For some reason I keep thinking Pienaar was the SH after 2007. He was played a bit at standoff and I swear a test at fullback.
FdP wasn't stellar in the 2011 WC, think he missed a decent chunk due to injuries 2010/11 didn't he? I just am not sure how much he can offer after playing in Japan for two years.

FdP played RWC 2011 coming back from an entire year out injured. Nobody can really know what his form is like or if he can comeback at top form after playing in Japan. But then it didn't seem to hurt George Smith or Radike Samo returning from Japan after a couple of years.

Pienaar has been rotated all over the Bok backline. Classy player, not sure why he hasn't shone quite as much in the international setup as he has with the Sharks and Ulster though. Better than Hougaard still though.

 

[TRF_Ezequiel]

You guys remember who replaced Fourie du Preez when injured between 2007 and 2010? The legendary Ricky Januarie!!! Now, there's a scrum-half who was crap! Man, he was god awful.

@ PD: You're right. Those scrumhalves will never be as good as du Preez, but does that mean you should hang on to du Preez until the next RWC? He'll be 33 when the RWC is played (which is not a concern itself) but he's also a player who has regressed immensly in the last 4 years. He will never be as good as he was. Moving forward, you have to give youngsters a chance otherwise we will never know if they can perform under pressure.

 

[psychic duck]

You guys remember who replaced Fourie du Preez when injured between 2007 and 2010? The legendary Ricky Januarie!!! Now, there's a scrum-half who was crap! Man, he was god awful.

@ PD: You're right. Those scrumhalves will never be as good as du Preez, but does that mean you should hang on to du Preez until the next RWC? He'll be 33 when the RWC is played (which is not a concern itself) but he's also a player who has regressed immensly in the last 4 years. He will never be as good as he was. Moving forward, you have to give youngsters a chance otherwise we will never know if they can perform under pressure.

He was the key influence on the Bulls successful 2010 Super 14 campaign retaining their ***le. Then got injured a for an entire year with his shoulder, and came back for Super Rugby and injured his knee ligaments and was out for 2 months, and then wasn't at his best at the RWC having played just 2 matches beforehand.

Now assuming you have highly likely watched as much Japanese domestic rugby as I have (not much), that means you are saying he has regressed permanently based on relatively few matches coming back from a serious injury?

For all we know he might have regained full match fitness with match time and be doing really well in Japan. Equally he may have just declined with age or the injury just taken the zip out of him, we don't know as it's impossible to watch Japanese rugby outside Japan. But to say he has regressed immensely is immensely unfair having only seen him play a dozen matches coming back from long injury problems in the last 2 years or so.

 

[tenpm]

I've searched for Japanese information on du Preez's current form, and he seems to have been doing quite well for Santory. "It would be harsh to compare him against Genia, but his game control and positioning is still top class" was the response I've received when I asked about him in a discussion thread.

 

[TRF_heineken]

Why so much pessimism??

Hougaard is injured, Piet van Zyl and Jano only recently became boks (Jano is also in the Bok squad by the way).

But you can't ignore the brilliant rugby mind that FdP has. and why use his after-world-cup matches as an excuse not to pick him. Look at George Smith, He was also in Japan for the last couple of years and just look at how he dominated in the Super Rugby tournament. If anything, this "time off" in Japan could only do FdP good.

SH is a problem position, and from what I have seen, it's always better to have an experienced campaigner in that position than a young one. He is a General and always play his heart out. With our young squad, that extra bit of leadership is just what we need.

 

[nickdnz]

Didn't realize he would only be 33 in 2015...

I still think SA should only select players who play in SR - but I guess South Africa has had quite a bit of trouble with creative players since he's been gone. My only thought is that FdP was the best when kicking was a lot more important and the Bulls and SA had Matfield to win their lineouts. They've got a good lineout atm, but it isn't what it was 2009-2010, so his tactical kicking game isn't going to have the same impact and I wouldn't rate his running game as good as some of SA's other options, even when he was in his prime.

 

[TRF_heineken]

Didn't realize he would only be 33 in 2015...

I still think SA should only select players who play in SR - but I guess South Africa has had quite a bit of trouble with creative players since he's been gone. My only thought is that FdP was the best when kicking was a lot more important and the Bulls and SA had Matfield to win their lineouts. They've got a good lineout atm, but it isn't what it was 2009-2010, so his tactical kicking game isn't going to have the same impact and I wouldn't rate his running game as good as some of SA's other options, even when he was in his prime.

fair enough, but I would pick him only for his decision making skills alone...

His effectiveness was amplified by knowing when to kick, when to snipe, when to time his passes. And that is what we need to sharpen our exciting backline even more.

He is still young enough to make it to another World Cup, this has been discussed numerous times before. And while we do have a bit of a crisis in this position why not bring him back. Another season of Currie Cup for the younger breed might just be the tonic they need to uplift their game even more and to get that necessary experience.

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

I for one am over the moon that FdP is back! What a legend and I feel people have forgotten just how good his reading of the game is and judge him off of a couple of performances back from long injury lay-offs where it became clear how much we missed him.

I don't think his selection closes the door for others. I mean he is only set to play a maximum of 3 games and his inclusion in the squad can only be good for the guys around him IMO. In any case I think our best bet at 9 going forwards is a combination of FdP and Louis Schreuder will have his break-out season next year. These 2 are best suited for HM's game IMO.

As for the rest I think it's a good squad injuries considered. A big Pity the likes of Goosen and Arno Botha are injured and won't get that time to develop their test careers. The only thing I am a bit concerned about is the number of overseas based players in the squad ATM. I was all for the inclusion of overseas based players but IMO it should only be in 1 of 2 circumstances the one being an all-out freak injury crisis in one position and the other a absolutely sure lack of quality within the country in one position. I get the feeling we are going over that line and what reason do some of our top end players that havn't gotten a call-up to stay in SA rather than chase a pay-cheque that isn't in Rands..

My English has left me this Monday morning but I'm sure I get my points across for the most part

 

[TRF_heineken]

I for one am over the moon that FdP is back! What a legend and I feel people have forgotten just how good his reading of the game is and judge him off of a couple of performances back from long injury lay-offs where it became clear how much we missed him.

I don't think his selection closes the door for others. I mean he is only set to play a maximum of 3 games and his inclusion in the squad can only be good for the guys around him IMO. In any case I think our best bet at 9 going forwards is a combination of FdP and Louis Schreuder will have his break-out season next year. These 2 are best suited for HM's game IMO.

As for the rest I think it's a good squad injuries considered. A big Pity the likes of Goosen and Arno Botha are injured and won't get that time to develop their test careers. The only thing I am a bit concerned about is the number of overseas based players in the squad ATM. I was all for the inclusion of overseas based players but IMO it should only be in 1 of 2 circumstances the one being an all-out freak injury crisis in one position and the other a absolutely sure lack of quality within the country in one position. I get the feeling we are going over that line and what reason do some of our top end players that havn't gotten a call-up to stay in SA rather than chase a pay-cheque that isn't in Rands..

My English has left me this Monday morning but I'm sure I get my points across for the most part

At least HM is consistent with the overseas guys he picked... Guthro, Ruan and Flouw was in the squad last year as well.

With the major exodus of players heading abroad, this selection of overseas based players was always going to happen, even with the policy of SARU. SARU is going to be under a lot of pressure the next few weeks, and I am interested to see what will happen when they convene for a meeting again. The Currie Cup starts on Friday, and will show some more talented young guys, putting their hands up to become Springboks.

I am with you and along with many others about FdP's selection.

Is Andries Bekker still injured that he wasn't considered for the Squad?

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

At least HM is consistent with the overseas guys he picked... Guthro, Ruan and Flouw was in the squad last year as well.

With the major exodus of players heading abroad, this selection of overseas based players was always going to happen, even with the policy of SARU. SARU is going to be under a lot of pressure the next few weeks, and I am interested to see what will happen when they convene for a meeting again. The Currie Cup starts on Friday, and will show some more talented young guys, putting their hands up to become Springboks.

I am with you and along with many others about FdP's selection.

Is Andries Bekker still injured that he wasn't considered for the Squad?

As far as I know he is passed fit but with no game time and heading to Japan I can understand his exclusion.

 

[TRF_heineken]

As far as I know he is passed fit but with no game time and heading to Japan I can understand his exclusion.

I forgot he's also moving to the sushi-state!

Geez, but the guys are fleeing in their droves!!