Allister Hogg sets out on Scotland quest

• From left, America's Kevin Swiryn, Fiji's Seremaia Borotu, Ally Hogg, and Jevon Groves of Wales get the ball rolling at Edinburgh's Omni Centre for the Emirates Airlines Sevens. Picture: Esme Allen

There was a time when it was said it was harder to lose one's place in the Scotland squad than gain one, and when Hogg first emerged into the Test arena as one of Matt Williams' crop of young debutants in 2004 he made a place in Scotland's back row his own. It may not always have been his preferred No8 role, but he was a fixture in the next two years.

Even when coming off the bench Hogg was a cruel part of Scotland's armoury until last year and the generation he had helped nurture at Edinburgh, players such as Ross Rennie, Alan MacDonald and Roddy Grant, and Glasgow's 'Killer Bs, in the form of Johnnie Beattie, John Barclay and Kelly Brown, began to turn up the heat considerably.

The last thing Hogg needed was injury, but it struck with a vengeance last year and his season, and hopes of impressing new coach Andy Robinson, went up in smoke. So it was that he was at the Omni Centre in Edinburgh yesterday helping the SRU to market this weekend's Emirates Airlines Sevens Festival where he is one of Scotland's star turns as they bid to reach the cup quarter-finals for the first time this season.

It will prove to be one of his last SRU engagements for a while because after he tours with the 'A' team to Romania, coach Sean Lineen one person being thankful that the 28-year-old is available to his second-string, he heads for Tyneside and a new start with Newcastle Falcons.

"It is an adventure," he said of the move south that he will make with his wife Linsey. "It was between Edinburgh and Newcastle and what would be best for me and Linsey. It is a short career and you don't know what you are going to get out of it. I am looking forward to the challenge of going down to Newcastle – a different bunch of boys, different set-up, different grounds and clubs, and opponents in a competition that is new. Learning from that experience will make me a better rugby player. But I still massively want to play for Scotland. I spoke to Tait (Newcastle coach Alan Tait] about that. He was sympathetic and hopefully there will be no issues about club release. He approached me and made me the offer, saying they wanted to play some rugby rather than just bash it up and that is where they see me fitting in. He is also fully supportive of my Scotland career and my hope is that the new fresh challenge will get me back into the Scotland team.

"I did not expect to go on the Argentina tour. You can't expect to go straight back in to the Scotland set-up after being out for as long as I was. I have to earn my place again and am looking forward on going on the Romania tour and getting a few games under my belt."

It is the reality of the competition that has been developed, particularly in Scotland's back row resources. Hogg actually played on through a painful hip in 2009 before he eventually had to succumb to the growing realisation that only an operation, and its fourth-month rehab period, could solve the issue.

The Stirling lad remains a very ambitious and competitive individual, but is also a phlegmatic character.

Hogg has been battling through the tail-end of the season to return to fitness and now he is keen to finish off with a good display in the sevens arena in front of a Murrayfield crowd smaller in number than he has become accustomed to, but no less supportive.

"I am looking forward to the sevens. I really enjoyed it last season and playing sevens this weekend is part of getting back into the way of things, getting the body back to getting used to running about every day.

"It is tougher playing Saturday and Sunday because as a pro rugby player you don't usually do that. And sevens is pretty brutal now, playing three games on a Saturday and three on a Sunday. But it's a challenge and I have always liked challenges.

"It's just like going to Newcastle and getting back in the Scotland squad. They are big challenges, but I'm really looking forward to them. It's a new chapter in my life and career and hopefully the move south will turn out to be a springboard."