FLY-HALF Tom Heathcote rates Worcester Warriors’ Francois Hougaard as the best scrum-half he’s played alongside.

The 24-year-old won three caps for Scotland, played four times for England under 20s and was at Bath with experienced Ireland number nine Peter Stringer.

Heathcote is looking forward to “building the partnership” with Hougaard over the next few seasons at Sixways.

He said: “I have played with a few different nines and all have had different traits.

“Peter Stringer has had one of the best services around for the past 15 years at the top level.

“Stringer gets the ball to you so quickly but Francois has an added ability with the ball in hand which adds another dimension to his play so he’s got to be right up there.

“I think I would have to put Francois at the top of my list in terms of his all-round game.”

Heathcote says he’s felt some pressure has been taken off his shoulders since Hougaard, who has since signed a three-year deal, first arrived at Sixways in February.

“I think Francois is so experienced, exciting and threatening that he was always going to take a bit of pressure off,” said Heathcote.

“He naturally assumes some decision-making, does some of the kicking and he decides when to run, kick and slow the ball down.

“It also happens in attack because he is such a threat with ball in hand and it takes a split second for the opposition defence to keep an eye on him before they can look any further.

“With a defence spending a split second looking at him, that’s an extra half-a-second for me which is then an extra two seconds for the ball to go out to the wide channels.

“Little things like that add up and it can make things easier for me in our half and when we’re attacking.

“It gives me a bit more time and space to see gaps and have a go at them.

“It’s been great playing alongside Francois and we’re looking forward to building the partnership over the following seasons.”

Heathcote has made 17 Premiership appearances for Worcester since arriving in the summer and scored 133 points.

“I knew I would have to work for my shirt in pre-season so I am delighted to have played so many games,” he said.

“I think the 10-week block of matches helped with the consistency of my game and I have been feeling pretty good.

"The back-to-back matches have been hard work but I am happy with the way I’ve played.

"We are all looking forward to having a crack at the top teams.”