Derick Hougaard (born 4 January 1983), more commonly known as the 'Liefling of Loftus' was a South African professional rugby union player who played for

Leicester Tigers Leicester Tigers (officially Leicester Football Club) are a professional rugby union club based in Leicester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded in 1880 and since 1892 plays its hom ...

and

Saracens file:Erhard Reuwich Sarazenen 1486.png, upright 1.5, Late 15th-century Germany in the Middle Ages, German woodcut depicting Saracens Saracen ( ) was a term used in the early centuries, both in Greek language, Greek and Latin writings, to refer ...

in England. He normally played at flyhalf. Hougaard played for the Blue Bulls in the Currie Cup competition in South Africa and the

Bulls Bulls may refer to: *The plural of bull, an adult male bovine *Bulls, New Zealand, a small town in the Rangitikei District Sports *Bucking bull, used in the sport of bull riding *Bulls (rugby union), a South African rugby union franchise operated ...

in the international

Super Rugby Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Building on various Southern Hem ...

competition. In the 2002 Currie Cup final against the

Golden Lions The Golden Lions (currently known as the Sigma Golden Lions for sponsorship reasons) is a South African professional rugby union team based in Johannesburg who compete in the annual Currie Cup and Rugby Challenge. The team is governed by the ...

, 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 phrase meaning the ''"sweetheart of Loftus Versfeld Stadium"'' in Pretoria. Each time Hougaard scored points for the

at Loftus, the chorus of a Gé Korsten song named ''"Liefling"'' was played in the stadium. Hougaard made his test debut at the age of 20 for the Springboks during the 2003 World Cup as a reserve during the 72 to 6 win over Uruguay at Subiaco Oval in Perth, he also scored his first international points, successful in a conversion. After resuming his role as a reserve in the next match against England, 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. 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 Versfeld in Pretoria. This equalled

Adrian Cashmore Adrian Richard Cashmore (born 23 July 1973 in Tokoroa, New Zealand), is a 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 Wels ...

of the

Auckland Blues The Blues (known as the Auckland Blues from 1996 to 2000) is a New Zealand professional rugby union team based in Auckland, who play in the Super Rugby competition. Like New Zealand's four other Super Rugby teams, the Blues were established by ...

'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 (born 6 October 1967) is a professional rugby union coach, best known for coaching the Springboks from 2012 until 2015. Prior to coaching the Springboks, he spent many years at the domestic level in South Africa before coaching Lei ...

as a replacement for

Andy Goode Andrew James Goode (born 3 April 1980) is a sports pundit and retired rugby union player. Goode had an 18-year professional career playing over 400 games and scoring over 4,000 points. He played professionally in England, France and South A ...

who had moved to

CA Brive Club Athlétique Brive Corrèze Limousin, also referred to as CA Brive, Brive () or CAB, is a French professional rugby union club based in Brive-la-Gaillarde, in the Corrèze department. They compete in the first-tier Top 14 competition. Briv ...

. He made his début against

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

in October 2008. In 2009, Hougaard signed for

References

External links

Tigers profileDerick Hougaard
on bluebulls.co.za
Currie Cup Individual Records
on superrugby.co.za
Super 14 Records
on superrugby.co.za {{DEFAULTSORT:Hougaard, Derick South African rugby union players Afrikaner people South African people of Danish descent South Africa international rugby union players Bulls (rugby union) players Blue Bulls players Rugby union fly-halves 1983 births Living people People from Cederberg Local Municipality University of Pretoria alumni Leicester Tigers players Rugby union players from the Western Cape