They grabbed bronze at the Rio Olympics, and now Juan de Jongh and Francois Hougaard will look to conquer the world champion All Blacks in the Rugby Championship.
Blitzboks De Jongh and Hougaard joined the Springbok squad for the upcoming tournament on Sunday, ahead of next Saturday’s opening game against Argentina at the Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit (5pm kickoff).
The sevens duo gave up on their 15-man aspirations this year to concentrate on firstly making the Springbok Sevens Olympic squad and then trying to push the Blitzboks to a gold medal in Rio.
De Jongh made the final 12-man cut, but Hougaard also travelled to Brazil as a non-playing reserve. He replaced the injured Seabelo Senatla for the semi-final against Great Britain, which South Africa lost 7-5, while he also featured in the bronze-medal match against Japan at the Deodoro Stadium.
But now it’s all about the Springboks, and it will be interesting to see exactly where coach Allister Coetzee utilises both sevens players. Backline mentor Mzwandile Stick said last week that De Jongh and Hougaard can bring something different to the 15-man game with their skills in the shortened format, which would be in tune with Coetzee’s stated philosophy of improving the Boks’ attacking game.
De Jongh has played at outside centre for most of his career, but impressed in the No 12 jersey when he captained the Stormers in the first half of this year’s Super Rugby competition.
He could challenge Damian de Allende for the inside-centre berth as the latter has battled to regain the form that made him one of the best rugby players in the country last year.
Hougaard is essentially a scrumhalf, but can play a role at wing as well. Faf de Klerk established himself as the first-choice No 9 during the Ireland series in June, but Hougaard’s pace and footwork, and ability to break around the fringes could make him a valuable impact player at scrumhalf in the last 20 minutes.
The Boks assembled in Johannesburg on Sunday before making their way to Nelspruit via Middelburg, where they had a signing session with the locals as part of their #LoveRugby campaign to get closer to the community.
SA Rugby said on Twitter that the overseas-based players Bryan Habana, Francois Louw, Steven Kitshoff and Johan Goosen also arrived in camp on Sunday. Toulon No 8 Duane Vermeulen was ruled out with a knee injury he picked up on club duty on Friday, and has not been replaced as the Bok management feel there is enough loose-forward cover in the shape of Louw, Sikhumbuzo Notshe, Warren Whiteley, Jaco Kriel and Oupa Mohoje.
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