In the first half Hougaard missed two kicks at goal and had in fact played in such subdued fashion that there was general speculation that he would be substituted during the half-time break. Instead he came out again for the second half.

In the second minute of the half, the Cheetahs turned a penalty against Johan Roets into a five-metre line-out but lost the ball. The ball came back to Hougaard who is inside his in-goal area. He runs the ball out and is about a metre in-field when Kabamba Floors and Jannie du Plessis jump him. An urgent tackle/ruck develops with Hougaard lying on the ground. At the end of the ruck Hougaard was injured.

It took time to attend to him with care being taken about his head/neck area, and eventually he was taken off, sitting up, on the mobile ambulance cart. Morné Steyn came on. The change may well have been the winning factor in the game.

The footage shows Hougaard lying down in the tackle with players around. In comes the Blue Bulls' captain Gary Botha. He approaches, looks down, lifts his right boot and brings it down on Hougaard's shoulder.

There was a suggestion that Botha's act could have been deliberate. It's a tough thought. Botha's action looks strange and ubious. He is looking down, lifts his foot and pauses and then brings it down on Hougaard high on the flyhalf's back/shoulder, but the blow seems a glancing on rather than a thump down onto the prone player.

A deliberate, calculated attempt to force a replacement seems farfetched indeed, especially in that desperate situation with the Blue Bulls battling for survival..