Derick Hougaard
Encyclopedia
Derick Hougaard is a South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

n rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...

 player who plays for Saracens
Saracens F.C.
Saracens are a professional rugby union team based in St. Albans, England – although they play their home games at Vicarage Road, in Watford. They are currently members of the Aviva Premiership, the top level of domestic rugby union in England...

 in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. He normally plays at flyhalf. Hougaard played for the Blue Bulls
Blue Bulls
The Blue Bulls, for sponsorship reasons known as the Vodacom Blue Bulls, or more popularly by their Afrikaans name die Blou Bulle, are a South African rugby union team that participates in the annual Currie Cup tournament...

 in the Currie Cup
Currie Cup
The Currie Cup tournament is South Africa's premier domestic rugby union competition, played each winter and spring , featuring teams representing either entire provinces or substantial regions within provinces...

 competition in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

 and the Bulls in the international Super 14
Super 14
Super Rugby is the largest and pre-eminent professional Rugby union competition in the Southern Hemisphere...

 competition.

In the 2002 Currie Cup final against the Golden Lions
Golden Lions
The Golden Lions is a provincial rugby team based in Johannesburg, South Africa. The team was originally known as Transvaal, before changes to the political landscape in South Africa forced a name change to the Gauteng Lions, before again being changed to the Golden Lions. For sponsorship reason...

, Hougaard broke Naas Botha's 15 year record for points scored in a Currie Cup final of 24 by scoring 26, (1 try, 2 drop goals and 5 penalties). This feat at the start of his career and his excellent goal kicking success ratio during the following years earned him the accolade "Liefling van Loftus", an Afrikaans
Afrikaans
Afrikaans is a West Germanic language, spoken natively in South Africa and Namibia. It is a daughter language of Dutch, originating in its 17th century dialects, collectively referred to as Cape Dutch .Afrikaans is a daughter language of Dutch; see , , , , , .Afrikaans was historically called Cape...

 phrase meaning the "sweetheart of Loftus Versfeld Stadium
Loftus Versfeld Stadium
Loftus Versfeld Stadium is a rugby and association football stadium situated in Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa. The stadium has a capacity of 51,762 for rugby union and hosted the 2009 Currie Cup final...

"
in Pretoria
Pretoria
Pretoria is a city located in the northern part of Gauteng Province, South Africa. It is one of the country's three capital cities, serving as the executive and de facto national capital; the others are Cape Town, the legislative capital, and Bloemfontein, the judicial capital.Pretoria is...

. Each time Hougaard scored points for the Bulls at Loftus, the chorus of a Ge Korsten
Gé Korsten
Gérard Korsten was a South African opera tenor and actor who had a great influence on Afrikaans culture....

 song named "Liefling" was played in the stadium.

Hougaard made his test debut at the age of 20 for the Springboks
South Africa national rugby union team
The South African national rugby union team are 2009 British and Irish Lions Series winners. They are currently ranked as the fourth best team in the IRB World Rankings and were named 2008 World Team of the Year at the prestigious Laureus World Sports Awards.Although South Africa was instrumental...

 during the 2003 World Cup as a reserve during the 72 to 6 win over Uruguay
Uruguay national rugby union team
The Uruguay national rugby union team is the representative side of Uruguay, governed by the Unión de Rugby del Uruguay. They have been playing international rugby since 1948. Their jersey is blue and black and they are known as Los Teros. They qualified twice for the Rugby World Cup, in 1999 and...

 at Subiaco Oval
Subiaco Oval
Subiaco Oval , known colloquially as Subi, is the highest capacity sports stadium in Perth, Western Australia...

 in Perth
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....

, he also scored his first international points, successful in a conversion. After resuming his role as a reserve in the next match against England
England national rugby union team
The England national rugby union team represents England in rugby union. They compete in the annual Six Nations Championship with France, Ireland, Scotland, Italy, and Wales. They have won this championship on 26 occasions, 12 times winning the Grand Slam, making them the most successful team in...

, Hougaard was promoted to flyhalf for the remaining three games that South Africa played at the World Cup. At the close of the World Cup, Hougaard, with five caps to his name had produced 48 points, including two tries. In the 2003 world cup match against , Hougaard was knocked out by a legal but hard tackle from Brian Lima
Brian Lima
Brian Lima is a former Samoan rugby union footballer who was inducted into the IRB Hall of Fame in 2011. Originally a wing, Lima moved into centre for Manu Samoa as his pace lessened, but he remained a formidable player throughout his career.He earned the memorable nickname of "The Chiropractor"...

.

The 2007 Super 14 semi-final saw Hougaard scoring all of his side's 27 points, by means of 8 penalties and a drop goal, against the Canterbury Crusaders at Loftus Versveld in Pretoria. This equalled Adrian Cashmore
Adrian Cashmore
Adrian Richard Cashmore in Tokoroa, New Zealand. He is a New Zealand rugby player who played for Auckland and Bay of Plenty provincially, and the Auckland Blues and Chiefs in Super Rugby. He also played professionally in Japan and for Welsh region the Ospreys in the Celtic League...

 of the Auckland Blues's 1998 record for most points by an individual in a Super Rugby semi-final. This victory was historic since it set up the first ever Super Rugby final between two South African teams. The 2007 Super 14 season was also a personal best in Hougaard's Super Rugby career, having scored 161 points in 14 matches.

In 2008, Hougaard signed for Leicester Tigers rejoining previous Blue Bulls coach Heyneke Meyer
Heyneke Meyer
Heyneke Meyer is a rugby union coach, most recently Head Coach at Leicester Tigers in the Guinness Premiership. He is the former coach of the Blue Bulls in the Super 14 competition....

 as a replacement for Andy Goode
Andy Goode
Andrew James Goode is a rugby union footballer who plays fly-half for Worcester and England.-Career:...

 who had moved to CA Brive
CA Brive
Club Athlétique Brive Corrèze Limousin is a French rugby union team founded in 1910 and based in Brive-la-Gaillarde in the département of Corrèze of the Limousin région . They wear black and white and play in the Stade Amédée-Domenech .- History :The club was created on 15 March 1910 established on...

. He made his début against Bath
Bath Rugby
Bath Rugby is an English professional rugby union club that is based in the city of Bath. They play in the Aviva Premiership league...

 in October 2008.

In 2009, Hougaard signed for Saracens
Saracens F.C.
Saracens are a professional rugby union team based in St. Albans, England – although they play their home games at Vicarage Road, in Watford. They are currently members of the Aviva Premiership, the top level of domestic rugby union in England...

.

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