Stuart Hogg dedicates historic Scotland win in Paris to missing squad members

Stuart Hogg roars with delight after Duhan van der Merwe's late try gave Scotland a first win in Paris since 1999

The match, originally scheduled for February 28, was postponed following an outbreak of coronavirus in the French camp and some Scotland players weren’t released by their clubs to take part in the rearranged Six Nations finale at the Stade de France, meaning they missed out on a first win in the French capital since 1999.

Speaking after the match, captain Hogg said: “We’ve talked a lot about our squad effort throughout the whole campaign and things didn’t quite go our way in terms of the selection we could make during this week and all the boys who are sitting at home watching who unfortunately are not here, this is for them just as much as it is for us.”

Gregor Townsend’s side began the campaign with victory over England at Twickenham and their final-day success over Fabien Galthié’s side marked the first time the Scots had recorded wins in London and Paris since 1926.

Hogg continued: “I think for us coming into this campaign, we knew fine well what we were about and what we could do and it started in the best possible way at Twickenham.

"Results at times have been outstanding; performances have been very, very good as well, and we’re probably going to be kicking ourselves in the foot after the two losses.

"We’re not going to get too carried away; we’re going to enjoy this moment and start building towards something memorable.”

The Exeter Chiefs full-back admitted he had been irked by the pre-match build-up focusing on France’s chance to win the Six Nations, and spoke about it in the lead-up to the game.

"It’s quite easy to read headlines. I said it in a very calm and controlled manner but I was a little bit disappointed,” Hogg said.

“I was annoyed, I’m a proud Scotsman and with the rest of the boys we added fuel to the fire and we enjoyed it."

Asked if Scotland were on the verge of something big, Hogg replied: “I’m the captain of a very, very proud nation and we’ll continue to work really hard.”

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