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'Really hurt': Stuart Hogg breaks silence over Exeter, Lions axe
Scotland captain Stuart Hogg revealed he has been working closely with the national team’s mindset coach to help him recover from a demoralising summer that left him at a low ebb after missing out on end to the Exeter Premiership season and then being dropped for the British and Irish Lions Test series decider against South Africa in August.
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The 29-year-old praised Scotland wellness coach Ben Scott for helping him improve his mental health and get back into a more positive frame of mind. The full-back said: “We have seen some examples over the last year or so in the Olympics and huge occasions like that where people haven’t quite been able to be themselves and perform to the highest of their ability because the mental side of the game isn’t where it needs to be.
“We are very fortunate that we have Ben Scott within the camp. He has worked wonders with us individually and as a team. We are learning all the time about the different things that help us with our mindset and our mental health and it is something more and more boys are tapping into. He’s been absolutely tremendous.
“For me, he has made a massive difference since the Lions tour to help get me to where I am now. I had spoken to him a few times before, but mainly since the Lions tour. I was struggling with how the end of last season finished.
“I was dropped for the semi-final and the final for the Chiefs and then wasn’t selected for the third Test (with the Lions) and that is something that really hurt me. I wanted to do something that would make a difference, to get away from those mindsets and what I was thinking then. The main message we get from Ben is that if you can get your best person, it brings out your best player.
"All that Stuart needs to know from me…"
– The Scotland captain twice started for the Lions versus the Springboks but he went to South Africa having been benched by Exeter for their Premiership final and semi-final #Lions #Exeter #SALvEXE https://t.co/Ma9fLYBSe5
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) September 30, 2021
“We were told on Monday that performance is 90 per cent about mental health, which is hugely exciting because we can tap more into it. I have learned from Ben that the brain is a wonderful thing and I’m really looking forward to working closely with him for a number of years to come.” After taking some extra time off following his return to club rugby at Exeter to help revive himself mentally and physically, Hogg declared that he is now “ready to rock and roll again” as he prepares to lead Scotland in the upcoming autumn Tests.
He said: “I’m feeling very well. I have really enjoyed my rugby over the last few weeks. I have played four games for Exeter this season and I have absolutely loved it. I had a good holiday and I worked incredibly hard to get back in shape, and I’m ready to rock and roll again. After we came back from (the Lions) tour, we had a compulsory ten days’ isolation and after that, we were supposed to start training again for the new season.
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“I just felt that I was physically and mentally drained after having a season-and-a-half squeezed into a year. After the Lions, I felt I needed an extended break. Rob Baxter and the rest of the team at Exeter gave me another couple of weeks off so I was extremely grateful for that. It was massive. It allowed me to spend more time with my wife and kids who I hadn’t been around all summer. I just felt refreshed and energised and ready to go again.
“I have managed to drop about five kilos in weight. I have looked after my body a lot better over the past couple of months, just trying to get myself in the best place physically and mentally to go out there and perform. I have enjoyed the last month or so back in with Exeter and I’m very much looking forward to getting involved with Scotland now,” concluded Hogg.
Sportsmanship at its finest ?#EXEvHAR #GallagherPremFinal #LionsRugby
https://t.co/CO868drKoP— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) June 26, 2021
Comments on RugbyPass
Dagg is still trying to get enough headlines to make himself relevant enough to get a job. The Crusaders went back to square one at all levels. Shelve this season and nail the next one.
4 Go to commentsHe was in such great form. Sad for him but only a short term injury and it will be great to see him back for the finals.
1 Go to commentsAfter their 5/0 start, I had the Crusaders to finish Top 4 only…they lost the plot in Perth but will reload and back themselves vs 4th placed Rebels…
3 Go to commentsBoth nations missed a great opportunity to book a game that would have had a lot of interest from around the world. I understand these games can’t be organised in 5 minutes but they should have found a way to make it happen. I don’t think Wales are ducking anyone but it’s a bad look haha.
3 Go to commentsIt will be fascinating to see the effect that Jo Yapp has. If they can compete with Canada and give BFs a run for their money that will be progress
1 Go to commentsFollowing his dream and putting in the work. Go well young fella!
3 Go to commentsPerhaps filling Twickenham is one of Mitchell’s KPIs. I doubt whether both September matches will be at Twickenham on consecutive weekends. I would take the BF one to a large provincial stadium so as not to give them the advantage and experience of playing at Twickenham before a large crowd prior to the RWC.
3 Go to commentsvery unfortunate for Kitshoff, but big opportunity potentially for Nché to prove he is genuinely the best loosehead in the world, rather than just a specialist finisher. Presuming that if Kitshoff is out, it will also give Steenekamp a chance to come into the 23? Or are others likely to be ahead of him?
1 Go to commentsA long held question in popular culture asks if art imitates life or does the latter influence the former? Over this 6 nations I can ask the same question of the media influencing the thoughts of its audience or vice versa. Nobody wants to see cricket scores in rugby, as a spectacle it is not sustainable. With so many articles about England’s procession and lack of competition it feeds the epicaricacy of many looking for an opportunity to pounce. England are not the first team to dominate nor does it happen only in rugby, think Federer, Nadal, Red Bull or Mercedes, Manchester Utd, Australia in tests and World Cups. Instead of celebrating the achievements why find reasons to falsify it pointing towards larger playing pool, professional for a longer period or mitigate with the lack of growth in other nations. Can we not enjoy it while it is here and know that it won’t last for ever, others coveting what England have will soon take the crown, ask the aforementioned?
6 Go to commentsShame he won’t turn out for the Netherlands now they’re improving. U20s are Euro champs and in the U20 Trophy this year. The senior sides gets better every year too.
3 Go to commentsWill rugbypass tv be showing these games?
1 Go to commentsWell where do you start, the fact that England have a professional domestic league and Ireland’s is fully amatuer, that they have fully seperated professional squads at Fifteens and Sevens (7’s thinly disguised as GB), and Ireland have fully pro Sevens squad who loan some players back to the Semi-Professional Fifteens squad (moved from amateur for only a year or so) for a few games at 6N & RWC’s. The Women’s games is a shambles, and is at risk of killing itself by pushing for professionalism when the market isn’t really there to support it outside one or two countnries..
6 Go to commentsWayne Smith's input didn't have as much impact on the last final as Davison's red card for Thompson. England were 14 points up and flying when that happened.
6 Go to commentsBilly's been playing consistently well for 2 - 3 seasons now and deserves a look in at the top level. Ioane and ALB are still first choice but there needs to be injury cover and succession. His partnership with Jordie gives him first dibs you'd think. Go the Hurricanes.
3 Go to commentsIt’s not up to Wales to support Georgian Rugby. That’s up to International Rugby and Georgia. I sympathise with Georgia’s decent attempt to create this fixture. But for Wales the proposed match up is just a potential stick to beat them with and a potential big psychological blow that young Welsh team doesn’t need. (I’m Irish BTW.)
3 Go to commentsCale certainly looks great in space, but as you say, he has struggled in contact. At 23 years old, turning 24 this year, he should be close to full physical maturity and yet there exists a considerable gap in the power and physicality required for international rugby. Weight doesn’t automatically equate to power and physicality either. Can he go from a player who’s being physically dominated in Super rugby to physically dominating in international rugby in 1 or 2 years? That’s a big ask but he may end up being a late bloomer.
37 Go to commentsIf rugby wants to remain interesting in the AI era then it will need to work on changing the rules. AI will reduce the tactical advantage of smart game plans, will neutralize primary attacking weapons, and will move rugby from a being a game of inches to a game of millimetres. It will be about sheer athleticism and technique,about avoiding mistakes, and about referees. Many fans will find that boring. The answer is to add creative degrees of freedom to the game. The 50-22 is an example. But we can have fun inventing others, like the right to add more players for X minutes per game, or the equivalent of the 2-point conversion in American football, the ability to call a 12-player scrum, etc. Not saying these are great ideas, but making the point that the more of these alternatives you allow, the less AI will be able to lock down high-probability strategies. This is not because AI does not have the compute power, but because it has more choices and has less data, or less-specific data. That will take time and debate, but big, positive and immediate impact could be in the area of ref/TMO assistance. The technology is easily good enough today to detect forward passes, not-straight lineouts, offside at breakdown/scrum/lineout, obstruction, early/late tackles, and a lot of other things. WR should be ultra aggressive in doing this, as it will really help in an area in which the game is really struggling. In the long run there needs to be substantial creativity applied to the rules. Without that AI (along with all of the pro innovations) will turn rugby into a bash fest.
24 Go to commentsSouth Africa rarely play Ireland and France on these tours. Mostly, England, Scotland and Wales. I wonder why
2 Go to commentsIt was a let’s-see-what-you're-made-of type of a game. The Bulls do look good when the opposition allows them to, but Munster shut them down, and they could not find a way through. Jake should be very worried about their chances in the competition.
2 Go to commentsHats off to Fabian for a very impressive journey to date. Is it as ‘uniquely unlikely’ as Rugby Pass suggests, given Anton Segner’s journey at the Blues?
3 Go to comments