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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.
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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.
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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.”
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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 TNT Sports (@rugbyontnt) 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.
Mako Vunipola has given a remarkable interview about his VunProp Ltd deal with Nigel Wray.https://t.co/8bkmrYrv7X
— 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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Potentially good news for @LiRFC coming down the track with @SeanOBrien1987 back in full contact training#TullowTank https://t.co/4MxFoTXzWX
— 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
Beautiful 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 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 comments