Hogg won't drop the ball over England mind games
Stuart Hogg refused to get embroiled in a war of words with England as the Scotland skipper insisted he is not interested in Eddie Jones’ mind games.
Red Rose boss Jones kicked off the verbal skirmishes ahead of Saturday’s Murrayfield showdown earlier this week when he claimed Gregor Townsend’s outfit were a “niggly” team who look to “goad” opponents.
Northampton flanker Lewis Ludlam ramped up the rhetoric when he promised Scotland a “war” as the Auld Enemy end Scottish hopes of retaining the Calcutta Cup for the third year running.
But Dark Blues captain Hogg – who plays his club rugby south of the border with Exeter Chiefs – refused to take the bait.
The two-time British and Irish Lion said: “Look, my job is to make sure I’m concentrating on getting my performance spot on but also making sure the team is switched on.
“We’re here for the right reasons, not listening to what others have got to say.
“We’re concentrating on what happens within the four walls of our changing room and making sure we are focused and ready.
“I think I’ve made it pretty clear I’ve got a lot of respect for England.
“I’ve been fortunate enough to play for a few of their boys on Lions tours and they’re world-class.
“But we want an opportunity to turn them over. I fully believe in our team, that we can do that and we’ll do everything in our power.”
Scotland have not held the Calcutta Cup for three years on the spin since 1972 but that is the aim this weekend as they look to build on their 2018 victory and last year’s 38-38 thriller at Twickenham.
Victory would only enhance what is set to be a special moment for Hogg as he prepares to lead out his nation for at home for the first time.
The new skipper said: “I have loads of different memories of Scotland-England games, of course the most obvious one being 2018.
“I’ve been involved in a few Calcutta Cup matches now and come out on the wrong end a few times. But 2018 was definitely a highlight. Here’s hoping tomorrow we can emulate that.
“It’s a huge honour to be given this opportunity to lead but for me now it’s all about doing my job on the field and making sure we do everything we can to get a result.
“If we nail our detail in attack and defence we can turn over England.
“On our day we can beat anyone. You saw that with England here a couple of years ago.”
It was not the Scots’ day last week in Dublin, however, as they missed a series of golden opportunities to put Ireland under pressure – none more glaring than Hogg’s own horror goal-line fumble.
It was the latest instalment in a long history of brave defeats for the Dark Blues and Hogg admits if he has one ambition while leading out his country, it is to rid them of their reputation for being plucky losers.
“Last week we were bitterly disappointed with the final outcome,” he said. “There were some good aspects to our game. We really took it to Ireland in attack and fronted up in defence. Something that has let us down the last couple of years.
“We’re gutted with the fact that we could have potentially won that game last week.
“The tag that we’ve been given really hurts the players but we need to be in a position to win Test matches before that goes. We get another opportunity tomorrow to make sure that’s gone. There’s a Calcutta Cup to play for and that’s all we’re concentrating on.
“We can’t stand back and admire England for too long. They’ve got some cracking individual players and are a quality side. They weren’t in a World Cup final for nothing. They are a world-class team and it’s going to take us to be at our best for the full 80 minutes to come away with the result we want.
“But we’re fully aware of that. That’s a huge exciting challenge for us – but we’re ready.”
PA
Comments on RugbyPass
Why cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn 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
4 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 Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 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!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 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.
30 Go to comments