Stuart Hogg to be monitored after failing latest HIA
Fullback Stuart Hogg is to be monitored after failing a HIA – the latest in a string of head injuries for the Scottish star.
Exeter Chiefs staved off a tremendous fightback from Sale Sharks to maintain their unbeaten run in the Heineken Champions Cup with a 22-20 win at the AJ Bell Stadium.
Hogg scored his first try for his new club in a dazzling display before being removed from the pitch for a HIA, an assessment he subsequently failed.
The Chiefs, who went into the round three fixture on the back of bonus-point wins over La Rochelle and Glasgow, led 22-8 after Scotland full-back Stuart Hogg scored his first try for the club and helped create another but they failed to press home their advantage.
Hooker Akker Van Der Merwe scored two first-half tries for the Sharks to keep them in the game and they dominated for long periods of the second half, with skipper Jonno Ross applying the finishing touches to a sustained spell of pressure by crashing over for his side’s third try six minutes from the end.
Rob Du Preez kicked his second goal to cut the gap to just two points but the home side ran out of time as Exeter, with substitute prop Ben Moon in the sin-bin for persistent team infringing, hung on for a seventh successive victory over Steve Diamond’s men.
“The last 10 minutes were the longest 10 minutes of my life,” Baxter said. “Sale kept coming and we couldn’t relieve any pressure.
“I thought we tried to close the game out a little bit early and nearly paid the price.
“We had to show some fighting qualities to see them off. Over the years we’ve lost in similar circumstances, so to be sitting here with 14 points form three rounds feels very, very good.
“We’ve very much kept things in our own hands.”
Sale, who had England flanker Tom Curry sin-binned early on for a professional foul, are now below Glasgow in Pool Two after winning only one of their first three matches and need to beat Exeter in the return fixture at Sandy Park next Sunday to keep alive their hopes of only a second appearance in the knockout stages.
Both players are representing clubs outside of Scotland. #HeinekenChampionsCup pic.twitter.com/6oEJCcCyeU
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) December 8, 2019
“That will be a very difficult task,” director of rugby Diamond said. “We’ve only won there once but, if we play like that, it will be a close game.
“The lads played really well. We changed things up in the week with our attack and I think that went well.
“Our line-out functioned and our scrum was dominant. I thought our forwards matched them today and probably edged them towards the end.
There was drama at the end as Rennie’s team lost a late scrum and were forced to cling on for victory. https://t.co/pE6rEFN9Vt
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) December 8, 2019
“They probably just deserved to edge us on the day but in the last 10 minutes the decisions weren’t correct, we didn’t get our just rewards.”
Exeter will monitor the health of Hogg, who made a dynamic start to the game with the first clean break that paved the way for a penalty try and touched down his own kick for a 17th-minute try but took a knock on the head in the process and had to go off for an assessment.
“He failed his HIA but says he’s feeling a lot better and hopefully he’ll be fit for next week,” Baxter said.
“It’s a bit of a shame because he looked absolutely on fire. He really was electric in the first quarter.”
Press Association/additional reporting RugbyPass
Comments on RugbyPass
Would’ve, could’ve, should’ve, didn’t.
224 Go to commentsKok will become a fan favourite
1 Go to commentsI am really looking forward to Leigh Halfpenny playing his first Super rugby game for the Crusaders Playing a long side his former Welsh and Scarlets team mate Johnny McNicoll.Johnny has been playing great, back in a Crusaders jersey.The attack has strengthened big time. Also looking forward to David Havili at 10. David is a class act, it also allows Dallas McLeod to remain at 12. A good thing.
1 Go to commentsIf he had stopped insisting on playing in the backrow, instead of wing, where everyone told him he should, he would have been a Bok years ago….
11 Go to comments‘Salads don’t win scrums’ 😂 I love that.
19 Go to commentsCan’t wait for the article that talks about misogyny in Ireland. Somehow.
16 Go to commentsI would like to see a rule change, when the attacking team is held up over the try line, by allowing the defensive team to restart a goal line drop out releases the pressure for the defensive team, but what if the attacking team had to restart a tap 5m out from the defensive team it gives the attacking team to apply more pressure, there are endless options for the attacking side and it will keep the fans in suspence.
2 Go to commentsLess modern South African males predictably triggered.
16 Go to commentsMy heart is with Quins, but the head is convinced Toulouse have too much. Ntamack is back, his timing and wisdom has been missed.
1 Go to commentsWow, what a starting line up for the Sharks) Tasty up front,kremer vs Tshituka or venter …fiery ,,Lavannini ,,will he knobble etzebeth? Biggest game for belleau?
1 Go to commentsIt was rubbish to watch, Blues weren’t even present. Did what they had to do, nothing more. Should be better next week against canes.
1 Go to commentsI’ve just noticed that this match has an all-French refereeing team. Surely a game like this ought to have a neutral ref? Although looking at the BBC preview of the Saints game, Raynal is also down as reffing that - so there may be some confusion about who is reffing what.
1 Go to commentsIf Havili can play anywhere in the back line, why not first 5. #10.
11 Go to commentsThe dressing room had already left for their summer break before they ran out in Dublin that year, and that’s on the coach. Franco Smith has undoubtedly made progress, particularly their maul, developing squad players and increasing squad depth. And against a very tight budget too. That said they were too lightweight last year and got found out against both Toulon and Munster in consecutive games. Better this season so far but they’ve developed something of a slow start habit occasionally, most notably losing at home to Northampton who played them at their own game. Play offs will ultimately show whether there has been tangible progress on last year, or not…!
2 Go to commentsAustralian Rugby has been a disaster, by not incorporating learning from previous successful campaigns. QLD Reds 2011 - Waratahs 2014. Players, coaches and administrators appoint there representatives for scheduled meetings, organisation’s agreement’s assessments and correspondence. This why a unified Rugby Union under one entity works. Every Rugby nation has taken that path. Was most difficult in the Northern hemisphere with over 100 years of club rugby before the game become professional. Took a lot of humility for those unions to eventually work together.
7 Go to commentsThough Wilson’s sacking was pretty brutal, it wasn’t just down to that Leinster game; Glasgow had a lot of 2nd half collapses that season, in the URC and Europe, and only just scraped into the playoffs. Franco Smith has definitely been an improvement, some players are delivering far more than they did under Wilson.
2 Go to commentsjesus - that front 5!
1 Go to commentsShould be an absolute cracker of a game! Will be great to see DuPont & Ntamack in tandem once again🔥
1 Go to commentsBest team ever…. To have played? These guys are still pressure chokers. Came nowhere when it counted. What a joke
84 Go to commentsMusk defends anonymous terrorism, fascism, threats against individuals and children etc etc But a Rugby club account….lock ‘em up!!!
2 Go to comments