Hougaard happy to wing it for Wasps

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Desperate for game time, Francois Hougaard has convinced Wasps boss Lee Blackett why he is better off playing him out of position.

The Springbok scrumhalf, who joined the English side from Worcester for the 2021-22 season, scored two tries against London Irish in his first Premiership appearance in 16 weeks.

Frustrated by the lack of opportunity at Wasps, the 34-year-old reminded Blackett he started 11 of his 48 Tests on the wing for the Boks, and starred out wide for the Vodacom Bulls. 

The director of rugby told RugbyPass: “I’d say it’s instinctive. Franny is just a ball player, knows the game and is so instinctive.

“Before Christmas, he started speaking to me about wanting to play on the wing, that that was his preferred position. It’s very rare that you get that.

“You generally get people frustrated if you are playing them slightly out of position, but he was telling me how many times he had played for South Africa on the wing and he was trying to convince me, so we gave him an opportunity and I thought he was brilliant immediately, had a lot of attributes that are really good for our wingers.”  

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Devin Hermanus