Former Springbok and Bulls flyhalf Derick Hougaard is still in a coma, fighting for his life in a Pretoria hospital after falling ill over a week ago. Sports writer Leighton Koopman looks at five memorable moments from his playing days.
FORMER Springbok and Bulls flyhalf Derick Hougaard is still in a coma, fighting for his life in a Pretoria hospital after falling ill over a week ago.
“Liefling”, as he is known affectionately at Loftus Versfeld, had some memorable moments during his career, including a Currie Cup record that still stands today.
Sports writer Leighton Koopman looks at five memorable moments from his playing days.
A teen taking the Currie Cup by storm
Hougaard, from Citrusdal in the Western Cape, starred in the 2002 Currie Cup final as a 19-year-old against the Lions by breaking former Springbok and Bulls legend Naas Botha’s record for most points in a championship match.
Botha’s record stood for 15 years before the young Hougaard scored 26 points that included a try, five penalties, and two drop-goals to overtake the other Loftus legend.
After 21 years, Hougaard’s record is still standing in South Africa’s premier domestic competition.
One-man crusade paves the way for all-SA Super Rugby final
In 2007, the year the Bulls stormed to the Super Rugby championship, Hougaard’s kicking exploits against the Crusaders played another pivotal role in their title charge.
He achieved the rare feat of scoring all of his team’s points in the semi-final against the powerful New Zealand club and kicked his team into the final.
Hougaard scored his 27 points through eight penalties and a drop-goal to equal the record for most points scored by an individual in a Super Rugby semi-final.
The Super Rugby comes to South Africa, Pretoria to be specific
It was a Super 14 final that had the Sharks’ name written all over it after they topped the log in 2007.
But the Bulls had other ideas heading to Durban in the final.
Hougaard specifically had a brilliant game as he kicked 10 points in his team’s 20-19 victory, including the vital conversion to win the title against the Sharks.
Hougaard, who was in his final season with the side, also stepped up on defence and made a couple of crucial tackles including one on giant lock Albert van den Berg to stop a try from being scored.
A meeting with the Chiropractor
A rugby player would usually need an adjustment towards the end of their career, and not really at a young age.
But a 20-year-old Hougaard, in his only World Cup in 2003, had a tough meeting with legendary centre Brian Lima, more affectionately known as Samoa’s Chiropractor. He was dubbed the chiropractor for his bone-crunching tackles, and the young Hougaard found out just how crunching Lima’s tackles were the hard way.
He received a hospital pass from former Bok legend Joost van der Westhuizen as Lima stormed up and flattened Hougaard just as he caught the ball. It’s a tackle that’s still seen as one of the biggest at a World Cup.
Retirement couldn’t keep him off the field
Hougaards’ promising rugby career was cut short by injuries and he never realised his full potential, although he had a very good career.
At 37 the prolific kicker wanted to make a comeback with the oval ball, but this time around, with the smaller one used for American Football.
Hougaard had his heart set on ending his professional career on his terms after the injuries forced him to call it quits on the rugby field. He wanted to try out Gridiron and to follow in the footsteps of Botha, who trialled at the Dallas Cowboys back in the day.
