Derick Hougaard (born 4 January 1983), more commonly known as the 'Liefling of Loftus' was a South African professional

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

player who played for Leicester Tigers and Saracens in

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. He normally played at flyhalf. Hougaard played for the

Blue Bulls The Blue Bulls (known for sponsorship reasons as the Vodacom Blue Bulls) is a South African rugby union team that participates in the annual Currie Cup tournament. They are governed by the Blue Bulls Rugby Union and are based at Loftus Versfe ...

in the

Currie Cup The Currie Cup is South Africa's premier domestic rugby union competition, played each winter and spring (June to October), featuring teams representing either entire provinces or substantial regions within provinces. Although it is the premier ...

competition in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

and the Bulls in the international Super Rugby competition. In the 2002 Currie Cup final against the Golden Lions, Hougaard broke

Naas Botha Hendrik Egnatius 'Naas' Botha (born 27 February 1958) is a South African former rugby union player, who played for Northern Transvaal and South Africa (the Springboks). He was voted ''Rugby Player of the Year'' in 1979, 1981, 1985 and 1987. B ...

'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 (, ) is a West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch vernacular of Holland proper (i.e., the Hollandic dialect) used by Dutch, French, and German settlers and their enslaved people. Afrikaans gra ...

phrase meaning the ''"sweetheart of Loftus Versfeld Stadium"'' in

Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends eastward into the foot ...

. Each time Hougaard scored points for the Bulls 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 The South Africa national rugby union team, commonly known as the Springboks (colloquially the Boks, Bokke or Amabokoboko), is the country's national team governed by the South African Rugby Union. The Springboks play in green and gold jersey ...

during the 2003 World Cup as a reserve during the 72 to 6 win over

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

Subiaco Oval Subiaco Oval (; nicknamed Subi) was a sports stadium in Perth, Western Australia, located in the suburb of Subiaco. It was opened in 1908 and closed in 2017 after the completion of the new Perth Stadium in Burswood. Subiaco Oval was the high ...

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, he also scored his first international points, successful in a conversion. After resuming his role as a reserve in the next match against

, 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 Pala Lima '' OM'' (born 25 January 1972) is a Samoan former rugby union player who was inducted into the IRB Hall of Fame in 2011. He earned the nickname of "The Chiropractor" for his shuddering hits both on and off the pitch that supposedl ...

. 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 The Crusaders (formerly Canterbury Crusaders and BNZ Crusaders due to sponsorship by the Bank of New Zealand) are a New Zealand professional rugby union team based in Christchurch, who compete in the Super Rugby competition. They are the mos ...

at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria. This equalled Adrian Cashmore 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 as a replacement for Andy Goode who had moved to CA Brive. He made his début against Bath in October 2008. In 2009, Hougaard signed for Saracens.

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