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Hogg seals Premiership move
Exeter Chiefs Director of Rugby Rob Baxter has spoken of his delight after confirming Scotland and British Lions full-back Stuart Hogg will be heading to Sandy Park next season.
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The 26-year-old back has agreed a two-year deal with the Devon club, bringing to a close a nine-season stay at current club Glasgow Warriors.
Hogg’s arrival is certainly a statement of intent from the Chiefs, but it’s a move Baxter insists is a ‘perfect fit’ for both parties.
“We’re delighted that Stuart has decided to join us,” said Baxter. “We’ve tracked him for some time and we actually wanted to sign before he signed his last contract at Glasgow.At that stage it wasn’t the right time for him to move, but now it is and we feel he will be a fantastic addition to our squad.
“Not only is he an exceptional rugby player, but we feel he brings a whole host of other attributes that we think can help really add to us as a team.”
Hogg’s arrival is Baxter’s first move in terms of squad strengthening for next season, but it’s a significant one given the quality that the Scotsman will provide.
“Yes, it’s a statement on our part,” added Baxter. “But, anyone who knows us and where we want to go, will understand that for us to move forward and win trophies – which is undoubtedly what we want to do – we have to back ourselves fully and that means bringing in players who we feel will take us to that next level.
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“I’ve no doubt Stuart will be a quality addition to our squad. Not only is he vastly experienced, having played on some of the biggest stages in world rugby, but speaking to him he’s also very ambitious about developing his own game and experiencing new challenges.
“His qualities, particularly in the back-field, his stability and the threat he can pose in terms of counter-attacking, in a lot of ways it’s perfect fit for both ourselves and for Stuart.”
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Watch: Gregor Townsend and Greig Laidlaw on Scotland’s 54-17 win over Fiji
Certainly, Exeter’s all-court game – based largely on their attacking principles – will be music to the ears of Hogg, who has not only won 63 caps for Scotland, but has previously been on two Lions tours and was named Six Nations Player of the Tournament in successive years.
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Hogg will be the fifth British Lion to play for the Chiefs, following in the stud marks of Andy Reed, Geoff Parling, Jack Nowell and Alex Cuthbert.
“I’m very excited about the move, it’s a great opportunity for myself and my family,” said Hogg. “Like a lot of people I’ve seen how the Chiefs have risen over the last few years and I am a big fan of the way they play their rugby.
“Obviously, it’s a new challenge for me, but it’s also one that I am very much looking forward to. I’ve spoken to a few people about the club, the people and the area, and all I’ve heard is lots of positives.”
? – BREAKING NEWS – @ExeterChiefs confirm the signing of @Scotlandteam and @lionsofficial full-back @StuartWHOGG_ from @GlasgowWarriors ??https://t.co/wtoL07Un8z pic.twitter.com/is57Q1cW8B
— Exeter Chiefs (@ExeterChiefs) November 13, 2018
Hogg, who won his 63rd cap in Scotland’s 54-17 win over Fiji at the weekend, has made over 100 appearance for the Warriors since making his breakthrough as a teenager in 2011.
He added: “This is a decision that’s taken a great deal of thought as I’ve loved my nine seasons at Glasgow Warriors. I said I would decide my next step for family and rugby reasons and feel now is the right time to gain new rugby experiences and push myself in different situations where I will be challenged and hopefully improve further.
“I’m proud of what I have achieved with Glasgow and Scotland so far and would like to thank the club and Scottish Rugby for all their support. They have supported me when I had made my decision to move on.”
“Sitting down with both Rob and Ali, I like what they had to say, not just about the club, but how they wanted to play, and how they saw things moving forward,” continued Hogg, who has previously been on two Lions tours, won the then Pro12 title in 2015 and been named Six Nations player of the tournament twice in succession.
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Comments on RugbyPass
An on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
1 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusades , you can keep going.
1 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
24 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
24 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
24 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
24 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
11 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
11 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to comments