Francois Hougaard's new team revealed

TRANSFER NEWS: Wasps announced the signing of Francois Hougaard, who will join the club at the end of the season from Worcester Warriors.

With 46 international caps for South Africa, the experienced scrumhalf has made over 80 appearances for Worcester since joining them in 2016.

Before Wednesday's announcement,  reports linked Hougaard with a move back to the Bulls in South Africa.

Twice named Premiership Player of the Month, 32-year-old Hougaard won an Olympic Bronze Medal with the South Africa Sevens team at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and also won the World Sevens Series in the same year.

The scrumhalf first featured for the Springboks in 2009, later appearing at the 2011 Rugby World Cup.

Hougaard’s senior career began at Western Province before moving to Pretoria to play for the Bulls, where he racked up an impressive 26 tries in 88 appearances as he helped them to back-to-back Super Rugby titles in 2009 and 2010.

Wasps head coach, Lee Blackett, said: "We are delighted to sign an exciting player like Francois for next season.

"We are lucky to have some very talented young 9’s and 10’s at the club, but with Dan Robson often away on international duty, we feel adding Francois’ experience will be invaluable to the balance of youth and experience within the team.

"Francois has been a proven Premiership operator with Worcester for a number of years now and we are looking forward to seeing him put in some top performances in a Black and Gold shirt next season.

"We are all looking forward to working with him and believe he will be an extremely positive influence on our squad."

Hougaard added: "I am massively excited to be joining such a great club in Wasps. They have some brilliant players and play a wonderful brand of rugby.

"I was hugely impressed by the ambition of the club and the vision and philosophy of the coaches.

"I can’t wait to continue my career with a new challenge and hopefully I can make a difference to what is already a great squad."