Rugby: Hougaard offers versatility the Springboks need

Francois Hougaard is back from injury. Photo / Getty Images

The Springboks were facing Italy last night with the key point of interest not so much the result but the likely structure of their Tri Nations squad.

Bulls wing Francois Hougaard, despite a lack of match fitness after a broken finger, played and if he negotiated the test well enough, will almost certainly book a place in the Springbok team for the three Tri-Nations clashes against the All Blacks and Australia next month.

Hougaard is likely to tour not only because of his excellent Super 14 season but also because coach Peter de Villiers wants versatility. Hougaard was originally a halfback and can play there if needed. The only other halfback in the Springbok squad is Ricky Januarie. Ruaan Pienaar was also originally a halfback but De Villiers sees him as a first five now. Fourie du Preez, regarded as the best in the world, is recovering from surgery and will miss much of the Tri Nations.

Although he has not been afraid to change the side and send players home if they are injured or surplus to requirements, De Villiers has been largely consistent in his selections for the four tests against Wales, France and Italy. Only winger Odwa Ndungane (injured), fullback Frans Steyn, first five Meyer Bosman and No8 Joe van Niekerk - who were in the squad against Wales for the first of those tests - have seen no further action since. Huge lock Andries Bekker made his first appearance on Saturday after injury kept him out of the first three tests.

After revealing that he and De Villiers didn't get along, Frans Steyn has apparently patched things up but has not been called upon by De Villiers since the Wales encounter. The coach, who earlier said South Africa had no fullback of international standard except for Steyn, said after the Wales match that South African players in Europe suffered due to the pace of the game there.

The inference was that Steyn was dropped from the squad on that count. Zane Kirchner, who wasn't in the initial squad, has now played in all three tests; the first after substituting for Steyn against Wales.

Bosman was not called upon again after sitting on the bench against Wales, Van Niekerk was set to have a finger operation and couldn't be considered, and Ndungane was injured in scoring the winning try against Wales. Victor Matfield, Kirchner, Ryan Kankowski, Flip van der Merwe, Alistair Hargreaves, Bjorn Basson, CJ van der Linde and Bandise Maku were not in the Bok team against Italy last night.

With Matfield the only certainty from that lot, there are places for only three players outside last night's test squad. Key selections include whether BJ Botha or CJ van der Linde will be the third prop; which one of centres Wynand Olivier and Juan de Jongh will be with Jaques Fourie and Jean de Villiers and whether Hougaard will be selected.

- Agencies