Analysis: Why Stuart Hogg's shortened Six Nations campaign provides hope for the future
Scotland’s captain Stuart Hogg has long been a star of the international game, breaking off mesmerizing runs, beating defenders with dazzling footwork and scoring tries that few in world rugby can.
This year’s Six Nations campaign has seen Hogg continue his evolution as a player, transitioning from a player that performs feats of brilliance himself to a playmaker that creates opportunities for the teammates around him.
Despite two publicized blunders, more than ever before he is playing a mature hand in Scotland’s game plan, not just having to be the special weapon that searches for home runs on every touch of the ball.
In the early rounds of last year’s campaign, Scotland’s attack was hampered by lateral ball runners and, at times, an overeagerness to make defenders miss one-on-one tackles.
In the above example, Scotland had Ireland compromised with a numbers disadvantage but couldn’t capitalise, as Ireland used a jockey/slide defence to choke Scotland out to the sideline.
A lack of direct running and non-committal passing by Scotland failed to use this overlap, with Hogg himself crabbing across into Huw Jones’ path and taking away space from the outside men.
This contrasted with the opening stages in Dublin this year, when Scotland started with a 5-minute barrage of possession that almost knocked down Ireland’s door.
It was noticeable just how direct the attack was, with far more impetus on engaging defenders into contact and straight running lines.
On Hogg’s second touch of the game, he plays a calm hand drawing Gary Ringrose into contact and preserving the outside space.
After a slight bounce to the outside of Josh van der Flier, he straightens his angle and gives himself up to commit the Irish centre.
This play was that of a ball-playing fullback, able to use the threat posed by himself to selflessly open up space for others.
The red zone issues persisted, however, as Scotland were turned over deep inside the Irish 22 multiple times but, with a more direct attack, they weren’t short of opportunities.
Another simple touch from Hogg creates a try-scoring opportunity early in the second half.
Holding the defence from sliding, Hogg’s direct line coupled with a double pump of the ball gives a ton a space for Huw Jones. If not for a heads up play by Jordan Larmour to stamp out this break, Scotland would have waltzed over.
The Adam Hastings-Stuart Hogg tandem has really flourished with the once Glasgow Warriors teammates complementing one another well, without stepping on each other’s toes.
The one-two punch has delivered results as one player steps in to build on the other’s work. Both are capable of directing the play and getting the ball where it needs to be at the opportune time.
Late in the first half against France, Adam Hastings (10) takes on some disjointed French defence and weaves his way into the 22.
Hogg (15) originally looked for a support line, but then took over proceedings at first receiver on the next phase.
The rookie French replacement Matthieu Jalibert (22), subbed on early for Romain Ntamack, flies out of the line putting Hogg under pressure but also granting him an opportunity.
Hogg doesn’t overplay the situation, immediately pivoting to get the ball to space and finding Sam Johnson (12) rushing into a yawning hole.
Johnson links with Sean Maitland to send the winger over untouched in the corner.
Adam Hastings started the momentum and Stuart Hogg stepped up to deliver the final blow.
Scotland has been at their best under Gregor Townsend when they move quickly after making an initial puncture.
When they are playing badly, they often fail to keep the pressure on after making a line break, either by slowing down the play or resorting to carrying and squandering the chance to attack a punctured defensive line.
Having two directors of play to pull the strings has enabled Scotland to take those moments and find the space where necessary.
In the second half against France, it was Hastings returning the favour to capitalise on Hogg’s initial work.
So much of Scotland’s counter game in the past has revolved around giving Hogg carries from kick returns, getting the danger man the ball and seeing if he could conjure up some magic.
In this Six Nations, Scotland has been more diverse, looking to play whatever the best option is.
On this occasion, Maitland spreads the ball to Hogg in order to attack the opposite side.
Hogg knows if he can utilise some shielding and get on the outside of Paul Willemse, Scotland will have a 3-on-2 down the left edge.
Hogg is again willing to give himself up to free up his outside men. He has all options available with the ball out in two hands, able to play any one of them as late as possible.
He flirts with Virimi Vakatawa (13) and gets him to bite just as the ball is moved on to Chris Harris (13).
With Damian Penaud (14) pushing out to take the winger, Hogg’s work has manufactured a matchup for Harris on the trailing lock Paul Willemse (5), a speed mismatch for the Scottish centre.
Willemse is unable to catch him, and again the rookie Jalibert ends up making a bad read, over-eager to close from the backfield on the winger that Penaud already had covered, allowing Scotland to break away and breach Les Bleus’ 22.
This time it is Hastings stepping up to organise proceedings and make use of the fractured defence.
Scotland almost blows it by failing to get the ball wide straight away, much to the visible frustration of Sean Maitland (14).
This gave France more time to reset, but we see Hastings take ownership and he organises Scotland into a formation to run a set play using some ball-playing from Jamie Ritchie (6).
They set up a screen pass play to free up Hastings on the outside.
Fraser Brown (2) is used as a decoy runner to hold French lock Bernard le Roux (4), the second-to-last French defender on that edge, while Hastings gets a well-timed pullback pass from Jamie Ritchie (6).
The French fullback, Anthony Bouthier (15), is caught in no man’s land, allowing Hastings to fire the pass to a wide-open Sean Maitland.
The entire passage of play is classy work from both Stuart Hogg and Adam Hastings.
It shows how quickly a try can be manufactured when you have two ball-playing options at 10 and 15, especially if they are able to constructively work in tandem.
Hogg created the initial break using his outside backs and then Hastings steps up to the plate to quickly organise the side and fire another accurate pass to the open man, a direct role reversal of Maitland’s first try.
It is hard to see how Finn Russell could get back into the starting side now with how mature Hastings’ performances have been. Looking longer-term out to 2023, Hastings is the guy to keep moving forward with, no matter how good Russell can be.
This is a promising scenario for a Scotland side looking to re-find their mojo following the World Cup pool exit.
In this year’s Six Nations, they showed they are figuring out how to unlock sides with faster ball movement, building a much more efficient attack around straight-line running and two ball-playing options.
What’s more, as the tournament progressed they started executing the kill shot with more accuracy when the windows did open, without pushing 50-50 balls but playing with controlled tempo.
On the other side of the ball, Scotland’s defence was giving up nothing, conceding an average of one try per game and around 12 points. They were more aggressive, mobile and scrappy at the breakdown and despite not delivering dominants hits, they could frustrate any side to no end.
With their team built for speed, they have to keep moving towards this kind of expansive game when every other side is skewed towards power-based rugby.
While Wales are also trying to transition their game style under Pivac, Scotland at this stage looks significantly more comfortable.
This squad has the makings of a side that can end the Six Nations drought, with the right schedule, and a bit of luck without injury. That should give hope to any Scotland fan.
Comments on RugbyPass
He is right , the Crusaders will be a threat. Scott Barrett, ( particularly), Fergus Burke , Codie Taylor, ( from sabbatical) etc due back soon for the Crusaders. There are others like Zach Gallagher too. People can right the Crusaders off, Top 8 , here we come !!
1 Go to commentsWe will always struggle for money to match the other sides but the least the WRU can do is invest properly in Welsh rugby. Too much has been squandered on vanity projects like the hotel and roof walk amongst others which will never see a massive return. Hanging the 4 pro sides out to dry over the last decade is now coming back to bite the WRU financially as well as on the pitch. You reap what you sow.
1 Go to commentsWhat do you get if you cross a doctor with a fish? A plastic sturgeon
14 Go to commentsWhat happened to feleti Kaitu’u? Hasnt played in a while right?
1 Go to commentsGregor I just can’t agree with you. You are trying to find something that just isn’t there. Jordie Barrett has signed until 2028. By the end of that he would have spent probably 11-12 years on Super Rugby and you say he can’t possibly have one season playing somewhere else. It is absurd. What about this scenario, the NZR play hard ball and he decides to leave and play overseas. How would that affect the competition. There seems to be an agenda by certain journalists to push certain agendas and don’t like it when it’s not to their liking. I fully support the NZR on this. Gregor needs to get a life.
2 Go to commentsHope he stays as believe he can do a great job.
1 Go to commentsMake what step up? Manie has a World Cup winner’s medal around his neck and changed the way the Springboks can play. He doesn’t have anything to prove to anyone. The win record of the Boks with him in the team is tremendous. Sacha can be wonderful and I hope he has a very succesful Bok career, but comparing him to Manie in terms of the next Bok flyhalf is very strange. Manie is the incumbent (not the next) and doing pretty incredibly.
1 Go to comments00 😍 U
1 Go to commentsSabbaticals have helped keep NZ’s very best talent in the country on long term deals - this fact has been left out of this article. Much like the articles calling to allow overseas players to be selected, yet can only name one player currently not signed to NZR who would be selected for the ABs. And in the entire history of NZ players leaving to play overseas, literally only 4 or 5 have left in their prime as current ABs. (Piatau, Evans, Hayman, Mo’unga,?) Yes Carter got an injury while playing in France 16 years ago, but he also got a tournament ending injury at the 2011 World Cup while taking mid-week practice kicks at goal. Maybe Jordie gets a season-ending injury while playing in Ireland, maybe he gets one next week against the Brumbies. NZR have many shortcomings, but keeping the very best players in the country and/or available for ABs selection is not one of them. Likewise for workload management - players missing 2 games out of 14 is hardly a big deal in the grand scheme of things. Again let’s use some facts - did it stop the Crusaders winning SR so many times consecutively when during any given week they would be missing 2 of their best players? The whole idea of the sabbatical is to reward your best players who are willing to sign very long term deals with some time to do whatever they want. They are not handed out willy-nilly, and at nowhere near the levels that would somehow devalue Super Rugby. In this particular example JB is locked in with NZR for what will probably (hopefully) be the best years of his career, hard to imagine him not sticking around for a couple more after for a Lions tour and one more world cup. He has the potential to become the most capped AB of all time. A much better outcome than him leaving NZ for a minimum of 3 years at the age of 27, unlikely to ever play for the ABs again, which would be the likely alternative.
2 Go to commentsJake White talks more sense than anything I've read in the last 5 years. Hope someone's listening.
9 Go to commentsThe Springboks tried going down the road of only picking home-based players and it was an unmitigated disaster in 2016 and 2017. Picking overseas-based players has been one of the main reason the Boks have done so well since 2018, not only because of the quality Rassie could call on, but because of the knowledge and experience those players brought into camp from England, France and Japan. With some of the big names playing abroad it also gave younger players in SA the chance to break through at franchise level. Would we have seen the emergence of a Ruan Nortje if RG and Lood were still at the Bulls? Not so sure. I understand why Jake would want to block players leaving since his job depends on good results but it’s an approach that would take Bok rugby back to the bad old days and no South African wants to see that.
9 Go to commentsExeter were thumped by 38 points. And they only had to hop on a train.
39 Go to commentsI am De Groot.
1 Go to commentsHad hoped you might write an article on this game, Nick. It’s a good one. Things have not gone as smoothly for ROG since beating Leinster last year at the Aviva in the CC final. LAR had the Top 14 Final won till Raymond Rhule missed a simple tackle on the excellent Ntamack, and Toulouse reaped the rewards of just staying in the fight till the death. Then the disruption of the RWC this season. LAR have not handled that well, but they were not alone, and we saw Pau heading the Top 14 table at one stage early season. I would think one of the reasons for the poor showing would have to be that the younger players coming through, and the more mature amongst the group outside the top 25/30, are not as strong as would be hoped for. I note that Romain Sazy retired at the end of last season. He had been with LAR since 2010, and was thus one of their foundation players when they were promoted to Top 14. Records show he ended up with 336 games played with LAR. That is some experience, some rock in the team. He has been replaced for the most part by Ultan Dillane. At 30, Dillane is not young, but given the chances, he may be a fair enough replacement for Sazy. But that won’be for more than a few years. I honestly know little of the pathways into the LAR setup from within France. I did read somewhere a couple of years ago that on the way up to Top 14, the club very successfully picked up players from the academies of other French teams who were not offered places by those teams. These guys were often great signings…can’t find the article right now, so can’t name any….but the Tadgh Beirne type players. So all in all, it will be interesting to see where the replacements for all the older players come from. Only Lleyd’s and Rhule from SA currently, both backs. So maybe a few SA forwards ?? By contrast, Leinster have a pretty clear line of good players coming through in the majority of positions. Props maybe a weak spot ? And they are very fleet footed and shrewd in appointing very good coaches. Or maybe it is also true that very good coaches do very well in the Leinster setup. So, Nick, I would fully concurr that “On the evidence of Saturday’s semi-final between the two clubs, the rebuild in the Bay of Biscay is going to take longer than it is on the east coast of Ireland”
11 Go to commentsWhat was the excuse for the other knockout blowouts then? Does the result not prove the Saints were just so much better? Wise call to put your eggs in one basket when you’ve got 2 comps simultaneously finishing.
39 Go to commentsReally hope Kuruvoli and his partner rock the Canes.
1 Go to commentsI wonder what impact Samson has had on their attack, as the team seems less prone to trundle it up the middle, take the tackle and then trundle it up again. I lost faith in the coach last year as the Rebelss looked like a 2nd/3rd rate South African team. I also disliked Gordon standing back, often ignored as the forward battle went on and on. Maybe its our Aussie way of not getting off our A***’s until the enemy is at the gate.
86 Go to commentsThanks for the write up. Great to see the Rebs winning, I am a little interested in how they will go against the remaining kiwi teams, I think they’ve only played Hurricanes and Highlanders but how great to see these players performing!! I also see Parling has a job beyond June 30! A good move by RA? Also how do you fix the Rebels previously scratchy defence?
86 Go to commentsbe smart - go black
14 Go to commentsNext week the Crusaders hopefully have Scott Barrett back. Will be great to have the captain back. Hopefully he will be the All Black captain as well.
12 Go to comments