Six Nations: No reason why Hogg isn’t ready for first start, says mentor Jim Renwick

By DAVID FERGUSON
Published on Thursday 23 February 2012 03:00

PRESSURE and international rugby go hand-in-hand but, as some fear that expectations may grow too great too quickly on the shoulders of 19-year-old Stuart Hogg, the player himself is taking it in his stride.

He spent time yesterday, on the squad’s rest day, with his mentor Jim Renwick at Renwick’s old primary school Drumlanrig in Hawick, as part of a “Year of Sport” celebration in their hometown. Hogg spoke to pupils and told them of his delight at being selected to start for Scotland for the first time at Murrayfield on Sunday. Renwick watched on, impressed at the teenager’s sang-froid.

“It is great to see,” said the old master. “There was a bit of local euphoria last week when he was picked on the bench and there was plenty of us down in Cardiff to see him get on, and I think everybody was impressed by how comfortable he looked.

“The Millennium Stadium was fantastic and the atmosphere was incredible, but he didn’t look nervous or out of place, and that’s been his strength. It’s early days with just one game but a lot of people have been saying it’s been a breath of fresh air seeing someone taking on a man and beating him on the outside, and with a bit of luck he should have scored.

“I have enjoyed being his mentor with the Winning Scotland Foundation and, to be honest, I maybe didn’t expect him to do as well in his first game but Stuart has the basic skills and, when he has that, and pace as well, there’s no reason why he can’t push on.”

With a Borderer’s innate rugby intelligence, and no little humour, Hogg has been quickly taken to the bosom of the Scotland team and his team-mates are hopeful that he can help them find a way to build on the first try in five Tests scored by Greig Laidlaw in Cardiff, after his own score was wrongly disallowed. Intriguingly, Renwick scored a try on his first start for Scotland, against France at Murrayfield in a 20-9 win 40 years ago.

Hogg will not be at centre, where Renwick played, but is likely to be given a licence to pop up in attack and take the ball from half-backs Mike Blair and Laidlaw as often as he does from the centres as Scotland seek to build attacks through phases.

Renwick, who is speaking at a Bill McLaren Foundation dinner in Edinburgh tomorrow night, added: “We need players coming through like Stuart who can offer that threat in attack.

“I’ve seen him play well at centre, on the wing and at stand-off, but I think he likes it at full-back and it would be good for him to settle in there.I think we’ve got a chance on Sunday. We’ve held our own up front and, if we get go-forward ball, we should be confident at Murrayfield. You never know with France but the key word is pressure – we have to keep on their tail and keep working and, if we do that, we can beat them. And, if another Hawick lad can score his first try against them, you could probably say they’ll be dancing in the streets!”

• Supporters are reminded to allow extra time to reach Murrayfield Stadium on Sunday on account of ongoing road and tram works in Edinburgh, while supporters travelling by train from the north, north-east, Tayside and Fife are advised of engineering works being carried out by Network Rail, which will extend journey times.

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