Scrumhalf or wing for Hougaard?

Where Francois Hougaard should play - at wing or scrumhalf - is no new debate. But the question was further fuelled by the Springbok's performance in the Bulls' last outing against the Rebels on Friday night.

The diminutive Hougaard was switched from scrumhalf to left wing (due to injury to Akona Ndungane) by coach Frans Ludeke for the game at Loftus.

Hougaard had arguably his best performance of the season when the No9 jersey was worn by Piet van Zyl. "The combination worked well for us. Hougie seems to get a lot of energy playing on the wing," said Ludeke.

Hougaard, 26, has played the bulk of the Bulls matches at scrumhalf this season, a position he had indicated as his preferred spot at the start of Bok coach Heyneke Meyer's reign almost three years ago.

However, he did not have the best of starts to the season at scrumhalf and only gradually, as the season wound down, showed some improvements.

This also spilled over to the Boks as Meyer finds himself without an authoritative backup scrumhalf to Fourie du Preez one year before the World Cup. The Bok coach now finds himself with a bigger headache now that Du Preez has been ruled out for the rest of the year with an ankle injury.

With Hougaard playing better on the wing, the debate escalates for him and his coaches to decide where he is better suited. Ludeke remains noncommittal to pinning Hougaard down to one position.

"The good thing about the two (Hougaard and Van Zyl) is that they are both great half-backs, and if we can use Hougie on the wing, I think they always combine well," he said.

"Hougie and I spoke about it, his first choice is scrumhalf . Only time will tell [where we play him in future]. I think we have two great scrumhalves and it's vital to keep them both involved. So far we've managed to do that. I think both Hougie and Piet have had two satisfying seasons here."