THERE is a “distinct possibility” scrum-half Francois Hougaard will miss the first half of Worcester Warriors’ Aviva Premiership campaign next season.

The talismanic number nine is expected to be chosen by South Africa for their Test series against France, Rugby Championship and then the autumn internationals in Europe.

Hougaard, 29, has been a key player for Warriors in his two terms at the  club.

“We have to take into consideration there’s a distinct possibility we will lose Francois for certainly the first half of the season,” said Warriors director of rugby Gary Gold.

“By all accounts that hurt the team and we want to be one step ahead of the game.

“With Luke Baldwin, Jonny Arr and Mikey Dowsett all fit now I am really comfortable to back those guys and I think they can step into Francois’ place.”

South Africa have home Tests against France in June (10, 17 and 24) as a warm-up for the Rugby Championship, which also features Argentina, Australia, and New Zealand.

The tournament kicks off on August 19 with Australia hosting reigning champions New Zealand and South Africa entertaining Argentina.

It will run for eight weeks, ending on October 7 when New Zealand visit South Africa.

The Springboks then arrive in Europe with matches against Ireland (November 11), France (November 18), Italy (November 25) and Wales (December 2).

Gold, a former South Africa assistant coach, says it’s important to have four scrum-halves battling it out for the jersey at Worcester.

“Mikey (Dowsett) has done really well,” said Gold.

“He was going to get selected a couple of weeks ago when Francois or Luke was injured but Mikey got injured before the A-League game which was a pity.

“We’ve had a bit of bad luck from that point of view.

"I think he would have got an opportunity then but it wasn’t to be and, while that has been going on, Jonny has come back from injury.

“It’s wonderful to have four scrum-halves fighting for the position.”

Gold is looking forward to next season as Warriors’ permanent boss.

He believes the players showed their passion to remain in the Premiership.

“Fundamentally, staying up was the only reason I was brought in and to a man all the players put their hands up and showed the supporters how important it was,” said Gold.

“I am unbelievably proud of this group of guys with how they’ve gone about their work and embraced the changes.

“The only goal we wanted to set ourselves was that we were the masters of our own destiny.

“We wanted our performances to be the reason why Warriors could stay in the Premiership and improve as a rugby team. By and large that has been the case.

“Beating Saracens, Bristol and Bath and getting bonus points is what the guys have done.

“The players have gone out and done the job and it’s a privilege to work with a group like this because it wasn’t an easy task for them."

Gold continued: “When you know you are in a two-horse race at the bottom of the table it’s a dark place.

“For a player, it was a tough place to be and the group has shown a tremendous amount of character."