Stuart Hogg


Stuart Hogg is a Scottish rugby union player who has more than sixty caps for Scotland, currently serving as its captain, and plays for Exeter Chiefs. He plays fullback and can also play fly-half. In the Six Nations, Hogg was twice named player of the tournament- in 2016 and 2017. Hogg toured with the British and Irish Lions in 2013 and 2017, but his 2017 tour was cut short due to an injury.

Rugby Union career

Amateur career

Hogg was a pupil at Trinity Primary School and Hawick High School. He played at Hawick Wanderers, Hawick and Heriot's.
Hogg has been drafted to Stirling County in the Scottish Premiership for the 2008–9 season.

Professional career

Hogg made seventy-two Warriors appearances in season 2010–11 and began the 2011–12 RaboDirect PRO12 campaign as the club's starting full-back. He was named in the Pro12 Dream team at the end of the 2012/13 season. It was announced in November 2014 that Stuart Hogg had signed a two-year contract extension with the Glasgow Warriors, keeping him at the club until at least May 2017. He signed a further contract in 2016 taking him to the end of the 2018/19 season. In 2017 Hogg became the youngest player to reach 100 appearances at the age of just 24.

Scotland national team

He has represented Scotland at under-17, under-18, and under-20 level before he went on to gain full international honours.

2012–2014

He gained his first cap for the Scotland national rugby union team after earning a call up to Andy Robinson's 36-man squad for the 2012 Six Nations following a series of impressive performances for Glasgow. Hogg impressed on his debut against Wales in Cardiff, coming on as a substitute following injury to Max Evans. Hogg was subsequently named in the starting line-up for the first time for the match versus France. He scored his first try for Scotland in the 8th minute against France.
In the 2013 Six Nations he scored his second and third international tries against England in round one and in round two he scored against the Italians an intercept try from his 5-metre line and ran 95 metres to score his third international try.
On 8 March 2014, he scored his 4th international try against France at Murrayfield. On 15 March, he was sent off in a Six Nations game against Wales for a late and dangerous hit on Dan Biggar, although originally shown a yellow card by referee Jérôme Garcès the referee then looked at the replays on one of the big screens in the stadium and upgraded his decision to a red card.
On 8 June 2014, during Scotland's Summer tour he made his first appearance against the US after his red card against Wales and he marked that game with his 5th International try. On 14 June 2014, he slotted a crucial 43-metre kick to secure a win against Canada at BMO Stadium the final score was 17–19 to Scotland during the Scotland Summer tour. On 20 June 2014, he scored his sixth try for Scotland against Argentina during the Scotland summer tour. Scotland won the game 21–18.
He played a role in Scotland 7s team in the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow at Ibrox Stadium. He scored one try in the competition. During Scotland's Autumn internationals in 2014 he scored two tries, one against Argentina at Murrayfield and one against Tonga at Rugby Park, Kilmarnock.

2015–present

In a struggling Scotland side in the 2015 Six Nations Championship, Hogg made the most metres ; beat the most defenders ; and made the second most carries. Defensively, he also made a significant contribution as a cover tackler, particularly against England where he made four last-ditch tackles in the opening quarter of the game.
Domestically it was a successful season for Hogg, with Glasgow Warriors winning their first ever Pro 12 title at Ravenhill in Belfast.
Hogg played in all five of Scotland's matches at the 2015 Rugby World Cup, in which Scotland were eliminated at the quarterfinal stage by Australia.
The 2016 Six Nations Championship again saw Hogg in the thick of the action, scoring tries against France and Ireland, the latter an inspired 55-metre individual effort after collecting a high ball. He was also widely praised for his creativity throughout the tournament, setting up tries against the French and Italy. Following a public vote, Hogg was named as the Six Nations Player of the Championship, the first Scottish player to receive the award.
Hogg had a great 2017 Six Nations Championship scoring two tries against Ireland, he then continued this good form by scoring against France. In the last game of the 2017 Six Nations Championship against Italy he added 3 points with the boot in the 29–0 victory. He received a second successive Player of the Championship award, becoming the second person to achieve this.
Stuart Hogg received man of the match against New Zealand 18/11/17. He is now recognised as one of the best full backs in international rugby. On 25 November 2017, Hogg was injured in the warm up before the game against Australia.
In November 2018 it was announced Hogg would be leaving Glasgow Warriors after nine years, and joining Exeter Chiefs after the 2019 RWC.
In the 2019 Six Nations Championship, Hogg started Scotland's opening game against Italy and their second round clash with Ireland, however he was taken out just after kicking the ball by Irish flanker Peter O'Mahony. This controversial no arms tackle resulted in a shoulder injury for Hogg and Referee Jerome Garces was widely criticised for not stopping play nor checking the TMO. Hogg subsequently sat out the rest of the championship, adding to Scotland's injury woes.
Hogg was named captain for the 2020 Six Nations Championship, starting against Ireland, England, Italy and France and being set to start against Wales before the worldwide pandemic of Covid-19 halted that match. He scored Scotland's first try of the tournament in the 17–0 victory over Italy, running in from his own half to score in the corner. He also crossed the line against Ireland, but dropped the ball as he went to ground it with his right hand.

International Points

Scores and results indicate Scotland's and British and Irish Lions point tally first.
#VenueOpponentScoreResultScore TypeCompetition
5Murrayfield Stadium, Scotland5-017-23Try2012 Six Nations
10Twickenham Stadium, London31-1638-18Try2013 Six Nations
15Murrayfield Stadium, Scotland25-334-10Try2013 Six Nations
20Murrayfield Stadium, Scotland5-617-19Try2014 Six Nations
25BBVA Compass Stadium, Houston6-176-24Try2014 Summer Internationals
28BMO Field, Toronto14-1617-19Penalty2014 Summer Internationals
33Estadio Mario Alberto Kempes, Córdoba0-519-21Try2014 Summer Internationals
38Murrayfield Stadium, Scotland29-1041-31Try2014 Autumn Internationals
43Rugby Park, Kilmarnock12-1237-12Try2014 Autumn Internationals
48Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh5-323-26Try2015 Six Nations
51Elland Road, Leeds3-339-16Penalty2015 Rugby World Cup
56Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh11-529-18Try2016 Six Nations
59Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh21-1029-18Penalty2016 Six Nations
64Aviva Stadium, Dublin9-535-25Try2016 Six Nations
69Rugby Park, Kilmarnock25-843-16Try2016 Autumn Internationals
74Rugby Park, Kilmarnock43-1643-16Try2016 Autumn Internationals
79Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh5-027-22Try2017 Six Nations
84Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh12-027-22Try2017 Six Nations
89Stade de France, Paris3-522-16Try2017 Six Nations
92Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh3-029-0Penalty2017 Six Nations
97Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh5-044-38Try2017 Autumn Internationals
102Stadio Olimpico, Rome24-2427-29Try2018 Six Nations
107Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh17-333-20Try2019 Six Nations
110Kobe Misaki Stadium, Kobe20-034-0Drop goal2019 Rugby World Cup
115Stadio Olimpico, Rome5-017-0Try2020 Six Nations

British and Irish Lions

He was one of the four Scotland players called up for the Lions squad for the 2013 British and Irish Lions tour to Australia and was the youngest player on the 2013 tour.
Hogg was named as one of two Scottish players in the initial squad selected for the 2017 British and Irish Lions tour to New Zealand in June and July.. Hogg was injured after being caught by the elbow of team-mate Conor Murray in an accidental collision during his third appearance of the tour in a provincial match, and left the tour before the start of the Test Matches.

British and Irish Lions Points

Family

Hogg married in August 2016, and became a father later that year. His brother, Graham, has played for Scotland in the IRB Sevens World Series as well as representing his country at under-18, under-19 and under-20. Their father, John, played for Hawick before becoming a referee. In 2012, following his Scotland debut, he discovered he was a distant relative of George Best. A close relative of Best recognised the link after seeing Hogg play on television.

Popular culture

Hogg is briefly mentioned on Pottermore, in an excerpt written by J.K. Rowling for the website, suggesting that he and fellow players Jim Hamilton and Kelly Brown are in fact squibs – wizard-born with no magical powers – masquerading as muggles. In a tweet, J.K. Rowling later insinuated that Hogg was, in fact, a full-fledged Wizard.

Honours

Glasgow Warriors
Individual