Stuart Hogg's cathartic try and the subsequent celebrations will warm the cockles of your heart
Exeter boss Rob Baxter was delighted to see Stuart Hogg make a crucial contribution on his return to Gallagher Premiership action after a tough time on Scotland duty.
Scotland have lost both of their opening two Six Nations games under new captain Hogg, including a 19-12 defeat to Ireland where the star full-back hit the headlines after losing control of the ball when a try seemed a certainty.
A gutted Hogg described that blunder as a “schoolboy” gaffe but the 27-year-old showed the best of his game on Friday with a superb try in Exeter’s 26-15 win over Gloucester at Kingsholm.
Hogg started the second-half move with a fine run inside his own half and then finished things off after his team-mates had helped rip through the Gloucester defence.
Continue watching below…
WATCH: Head Coach Gregor Townsend and Captain Stuart Hogg hold a press conference at Aviva Stadium in Dublin following a loss against Ireland in the Six Nations Championship
Chiefs director of rugby Baxter said: “It will be fantastic for Hoggy to have a picture in the papers of him touching down.
“It was a perfect tonic for him as his performance was faultless and he took his one opportunity to deliver the killer blow.”
Baxter was also full of praise for the performance of experienced fly-half Gareth Steenson, who was captain for the night.
A Stuart Hogg one-two ?
Great work from the Scotland captain, who starts the move in his own 22 before getting the ball back to score a try! ? pic.twitter.com/HHmTQqBA5m
— Rugby on BT Sport (@btsportrugby) February 14, 2020
Steenson slotted over four penalties and two conversions in an exemplary display of goal-kicking in difficult conditions to ensure Exeter, for whom Jacques Vermeulen scored their other try, extended their lead at the top of the table to five points.
Baxter said: “We know that Gareth is an exceptional goal-kicker but he was an example tonight as he led the way defensively for us.
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— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) February 14, 2020
“Gloucester targeted him with a lot of one-off runners coming down his channel and it pleased me more than his goal-kicking that he stood up to that defensive task.
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— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) February 14, 2020
“We’ve been criticised for not taking kickable points in the past so today we thought we’d abandon our flair and kick the penalties as it was important that we continued to build points on the scoreboard.
“Our set-piece was really good with the players toughing it out and they stood and fought long enough to secure victory but we did run out of puff at the end.”
Jake Polledri and Louis Rees-Zammit responded with late tries for Gloucester with Billy Twelvetrees adding a conversion and penalty.
After years of relative mediocrity, there's – all of sudden it seems – been a boom in French 10s ??
James Harrington dives deep on what the hell is actually happening ??? #FFR https://t.co/pkGNXnoq4I
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) February 14, 2020
The Cherry and Whites remain fourth in the table but have now lost six of their 10 games this season and head Johan Ackermann accepted his side were their own worst enemies.
He said: “The stats will show that we had a lot of territory and a number of line-breaks but we failed to take advantage.
“Credit to Exeter as they took their opportunities but our ill-discipline cost us as we gave away silly penalties.
“They slowed our ball down and we had to be patient but we just couldn’t keep the ball.”
After Ackermann made a host of changes, Gloucester were rejuvenated in the final 15 minutes and were rewarded by scoring two late tries, which kept the final scoreline respectable.
Ackermann added: “The bench was exceptional as they got us front foot ball but we are not playing good enough from the first minute so we have to look at ourselves and keep the faith.”
PA
Comments on RugbyPass
Looking forward to the Wallabies being competitive again. No doubt that Joe can get them back on track.
1 Go to commentsThanks, Nick, not only for this fine article, but for all the others during 6N 2024. I really enjoyed this 2024 tournament, and felt it was one of the best for many years. That final match in Lyons was really good. England were certainly unlucky when that speculative hack by Ramos lead to a French try. It could just so easily have landed in English hand.s, and they score at the other end. I did think though that the French played some great rugby, and some of their driving play in the forwards was just fearsome. I watched Meafou with interest, and he has a good start to his career. It is interesting to compare him with Will Skelton. Lot of similarities, though so far Meafou has not shown any offloading threat. All credit to Borthwick for being prepared to change, and what great result, even if that last game was lost at the death. I feel they are a real chance to cause the AB’s problems this winter/summer. Finally a comment on Ireland. I thought their last game was their worst, and they did not look like the world’s No 2 side at all. What really worries me is that the loss to England was, in my view, down to poor decision making by the coaching group, and ofc Andy Farrell wears that. It was a big mistake to move JGP away from scrum half. Murray should have been the one to go to the wing. And the “finishers” should have been on the field earlier. And this is the second time this has happened. The RWC Qf against the AB’s, and not getting Crowley onto the field was a huge mistake. Finally, finally, watching Italy play was a joy. How wonderful that they are no longer the punchbag of the 6 N.
41 Go to commentsGreat story. Rugby needs new investment in teams like Brussels another pro league in Europe would be great.
1 Go to commentsAlso, looking at the data from last year, it seemed like by far the two biggest predictors of success were (1) kicking more than your opponents, and (2) having a higher rate of line-out wins than your opponents. I haven’t gone through the stats this year with a fine tooth comb, but the increase in kicks per game and the increase in tries from lineouts would suggest that these two metrics are only getting more important. England’s move away from a kick-heavy game to win against Ireland was seen by some as evidence that running rugby is on the rise. Alternatively it could be taken as evidence that if one team kicks more, and the other team wins more lineouts (as England did) a match is bound to be close to a draw.
2 Go to commentsI have been finding it odd that points per 22 entry has become such a talked about stat, given that your points per entry can be driven down by having more entries. These data would seem to confirm that it isn’t a useful metric, or at any rate is less useful than total entries.
2 Go to commentsI think the last two games England have played is some of their best rugby they have played under Borthwick. There has been a lot more attacking instinct and as a reward have created some well worked tries. Ollie Lawrence is a good foil at 12 as he offers the hard direct lines whilst the rest of the backs can play open. As much as it pains me to say but I do hope England keep playing this way. On a side note my favourite try of the weekend was Lorenzo Pani’s for the nice loop play that put him away and his finish was excellent. Thanks as always Nick.
41 Go to commentsMost exciting player on the planet right now, worth the price of a ticket.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith and Ireland live rent free in Safa’s heads. Their comments only triggers because its true. If the Boks had dismantled a 14 man AB’s, then there would be more respect. But they didnt, in fact quite the opposite, the 14 man NZ were clearly better. And the Bok have always been ordinary between RWC’s, thats why their supporters are now ‘only RWC’s matter’. They know thats BS. Its BS to both AB’s and Bok’s due to their history. But now its all the Safas have. Now we’ll hear excuses when they lose “oh we didnt have all our players available, the ABs/France/Eng/Irel were at full strength”, forgetting for a minute that its because of their own dumb policy. Oh well, makes a change from blaming ‘cheating refs’.
23 Go to commentsNo Nick, they did not, in fact, justify any ‘probables’ label. At no time did they seriously compete for the championship. Ireland led from start to finish and in the end, as a result of glaring referee errors, were never under serious pressure to lose their crown.
41 Go to commentsMoney for him, and his family, has been the sole motivator since he signed for Queensland aged 17. Why else sign for Melbourne. Tupou is poorly advised. If he’d stayed and developed in NZ he would have had a long Test career. If Leinster offer him a few more coins than he’s currently earning, he’s goneburger.
4 Go to commentsFinn. No one would say Ford had played well up until the last game. One standout performance in 5 is hardly in form . It should be a given that a 10 will control play . Not in Fords case be praised for suddenly doing so. Where was he against Scotland ,Italy. The pundits were saying how far away from play he was standing and one even said that the Ireland game was his last chance saloon to perform . Not exactly top form catching anyones eye. If he can play like this game after game then great. Keep him in . But after 90 odd caps we all know he just doesnt keep it going . By all means keep him there but the issue is that Borthwick will persist even when he plays poorly. Which is more often than not. Thats why i am concerned that Smith ,despite fab form , cannot get a game at his preferred spot. Can you imagine Ford at full back .
5 Go to commentsI do not really get why put Ollivon at 6 when he’s a 7, while Cros was the best Frenchman of the tournament, playing at…6. His only game replacing Aldritt at 8 doesn’t change much in terms of his impact. Lamaro was also outstanding in that brilliant Italian side, probably better than Reffell. So putting 2 Welsh players from the wooden spoon holders, and none of the 4th nation (Scotland) is also strange. Is it about showing that in this harsh transition Wales is, there were some standouts…?
6 Go to commentsThe events at this year’s six nations should undermine many of the arguments made against promotion and relegation between the six nations and the REC. If Italy had been allowed to yo-yo between divisions it conceivably could have really hurt their development, but if Italy, Wales, and Scotland are all at risk of relegation, with none of them being relegated more often than once every 3 or 4 years, you’d have to back all of them to muddle on through it, especially when you factor in the likelihood they’ll still be guaranteed world league matches against tier 1 opponents. Another way of looking at italys resurgence would be to say that the development model of adding an extra team to the six nations has worked, and now must be done again. Georgia could join to make it a 7 team round robin, and if and when Georgia demonstrate an ability to consistently win games, Portugal can also be added to make it an 8 team 2 conference competition. Frankly at this point I think it falls to world rugby to demand that the 6N act in the interests of the game. If the 6N won’t commit to expansion then the 6N teams should be handicapped in world cup draws (i.e. world cup seedings would not be based on their ranking points, but on their ranking points minus a 5 point penalty).
6 Go to commentsSteve Borthwick deserves credit for releasing the shackles on his England side and letting them play in a manner that somewhat resembles the top sides in the Gallagher Premiership. Will they revert to type in New Zealand in July.?
41 Go to commentsJames Lowe wouldn't get in any other 6N team. He's a great example of Farrell’s brilliance, and the Irish system. He is slow. His footwork is poor. But he fits perfectly in that Irish system, and has a superb impact. But put him in another team, and he'll look bang average.
6 Go to commentsCrusaders reached their heights through recruitment of North Island players, often leaving those NI teams bereft of key players. Example: Scott Barrett and Sam Whitelock robbed the Canes of their lineout and AB locks. For years the Canes have struggled at lock. This rabid recruitment was iniated by rule changes by a Crusader dominated NZR Head Office. Now this aggressive recruitment has back-fired, going after young inside back Hamilton Boys stars. They now have 4 Chiefs region 10s and not one with the requisite experience at Super level. Problems of their own making!
2 Go to commentsOver rated for a long time…exposed at scrum time too.
4 Go to comments“Firing me” should have been Gatland’s answer.
2 Go to commentsFinn Russell logic: “World” = 4 countries. Ireland may be at or near the top. FR’s bigger concern should be he and his fellow Scots (incl. the Bloemfontein ones) sliding back down to below top 10
42 Go to commentsMind games have begun. Ireland learned their lesson after saying they could beat England with 13 players or whatever. Still, if they win at Loftus, that would be impressive - final frontier etc.
58 Go to comments