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Hogg's 7-day isolation: 'I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy'
Stuart Hogg has outlined his relief after emerging from his seven-day period of Lions tour self-isolation after he was identified as a close contact of the staff member who tested positive in the middle of last week for Covid-19. That contact tracing ruled the Scotland skipper out of selection for the two matches against the Sharks and the South Africa A game.
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However, having flown to Cape Town on Wednesday with the four staff members who were also caught up in the virus outbreak, Hogg was seen doing some running at the stadium prior to the Lions’ 17-13 defeat and he has now been selected as captain for this Saturday’s final preparation game versus the Stormers ahead of the Test series against the Springboks.
It is the second occasion Hogg will skipper the Lions as he previously took on the responsibility for the first match on South African soil against Sigma Lions on July 3, a week after he was only chosen on the replacements bench for the Gallagher Premiership final with Exeter.
Having missed out on Lions Test team selection in 2017 due to a fractured cheek suffered in a collision with teammate Conor Murray in the win over the Crusaders, he is keen to emphasise his value to Warren Gatland this weekend ahead of the July 24 series opener versus the Springboks. “The key was to get into a good routine,” said Hogg about his week-long experience of being holed up in a Johannesburg hotel awaiting the all-clear from the medics to rejoin the Lions squad in Cape Town.
“It’s a long old time to be hidden away. Getting my routine sorted and making sure I was as productive as I possibly could seemed to pass the time a lot quicker. It was challenging at times. We had a mini-isolation group and had a good bit of craic along the way and kept each other going. I wouldn’t wish that on my worst enemy. Honestly, it was a horrendous few days but I am delighted to be back.
The latest Lions bulletin also covers Watson, Jones and Williams, the trio hurt Wednesday's loss to South Africa A #LionsRugby #CastleLionsSeries #LionsSA2021https://t.co/AFmGpGlqpJ
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) July 15, 2021
“It became a little bit easier once the boys and everybody in the touring party left (Johannesburg). We got a little bit of time to spend in the gym and managed to sanitise it about a million times when we were in there. I got a chance to do everything I possibly could. I was carrying a little knock after a training session but I’m all good now and excited to get going again.”
Relieved that he is still getting the chance to force his way into the Lions Test team selection, Hogg revealed how the friendly fire injury four years ago in New Zealand took him up to two years to finally get over and rediscover his spark for playing. “It was something I kept quiet and almost to myself for a long time. The experience I had in 2017, I felt going into that tour I had been playing some good rugby and to have it taken away from me was bitterly disappointing.
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“It probably took me a good year-and-a-half, two years to get over it and get back up and running and get excited about playing rugby again. I had the hunger and the drive to get back I kept it to myself. My focus all along was to make sure I gave myself every opportunity to represent the Lions again and now I am here it is about making the most of it. It has been a lot of hard work along the way.
Lions boss Gatland was delighted to have Hogg back in the mix at the time when Liam Williams is negotiating his return to play protocols following his concussion against South Africa A and an ankle sprain/tight hamstring is affecting Anthony Watson from the same game.
“Stuart has been a bit unlucky on the last couple of Lions tours, the injury in 2017 which put him out of the Test series and then the close contact with Covid which has kept him out of a couple of games. It’s good to have him back. He will be raring to go.”
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— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) July 15, 2021
Comments on RugbyPass
🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
27 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
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!😭😭😭 !!!
27 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
27 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.
27 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.
27 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 comments