Hogg bemoans mess left by Sarries sanction

STUART HOGG admits that if his Exeter Chiefs side win the Premiership, people will believe they triumphed only because of Saracens’ hefty points deduction for breaching the salary cap. The unprecedented punishment could clear the path for Exeter and Hogg, 27, admits: ‘Everyone at the club is a bit disappointed with how things have gone. ‘Exeter have been in the last ast four Premiership finals and d they’ve played against Saracens three times and been beaten by them three times, so there is a bit of hurt.’ Exeter are now in pole position but Scotland star Hogg (right) concedes a title win would be hollow in the eyes of many. ‘You still have to play 22 games to win a trophy,’ he said. ‘We’re just concentrating on that. If we were to win the league this year, everybody would look at us and say it’s because Saracens are down there. But if Saracens are still at the top, we plan on beating them as well. ‘It’s a long old season for us to be in a position to win trophies but we’re going to do our best to make sure we’re in that situation.

Everybody is going to have an opinion, everybody is entitled to that opinion, but we’ll make sure we’re at our best and hopefully lifting a trophy at the end of the season.’ The revelation that Saracens have been in breach of Premiership regulations in each of the past three seasons met with fury in s some quarters. Exeter Ex boss Tony Rowe e even claimed his club could boycott their upcoming clash if their rivals win an appeal. N Nevertheless Hogg insists in that for Exeter’s play players the news is of little importance. impor ‘For me to make sure I’m at my best and Exeter are at our best, we’ve not been concentrating on it at all,’ he said. ‘We’ve been looking at ourselves and it’s pretty irrelevant for what we want to do, because first and foremost we’re concentrating on seeing what we can do in this league.’

SAM WARBURTON is to be Wales’ defence and breakdown advisor, in time for their match against Barbarians next month.