Hogg desperate to hold on to recent run of good form
Scotland captain out to build momentum
MOMENTUM may be on Scotland’s side this afternoon, as they launch their Autumn Nations Cup campaign against a struggling Italian outfit who haven’t beaten any Six Nations teams since 2015 in Florence.
But captain Stuart Hogg insists that the pain of last year’s early exit from the world stage in Japan is still too raw for there to be any danger of his side taking their foot off the accelerator.
“You just need to look at this time last year when we were home early from the World Cup having said a lot about doing special things, and to be honest with you we were nowhere good enough, nowhere near our best,” he said.
“From my point of view, I looked at myself first and then looked at how we can improve as a team, and I think everybody in the squad has done that. I think we were all just playing within ourselves during that period, but now we understand what it means to play for Scotland, what it means to let yourself go – and the boys are enjoying it.
“You see us with smiles on our faces because we’re getting confidence from winning the scrum battle, building driving mauls, line- breaks, whatever it may be. We are enjoying it as individuals and as a team.
“There are boys who have been here seven or eight years and there’s boys coming in and winning their first cap and it’s all about everybody buying into it,” he continued. “We’ve had some ups and we’ve had some downs but the big thing is finding a level of consistency and we believe now we are in the best place we’ve been for a very long time.
“When new boys come in, we want them to understand they are here for a reason. A lot of boys in the past have thought: ‘ I’m here and that’s going to be it’. But you have to come in here and you have to make the difference.
“We’ve had a lot of people write us off over the years but we’re beginning to understand that people’s opinions outside the changing room are irrelevant. We just need to concentrate on ourselves. We’re here to have some fun and express ourselves and I think the boys understand what that means and what it looks like and it’s really refreshing and encouraging to see.
“We’ve had a good week of preparation and feel in a good place, but to be honest it means absolutely nothing unless we turn up. The mood in the camp is good – we’re confident, we’re happy with each other, we have enjoyed each other’s company over the past few weeks and hopefully that comes out in our performance.”
Scotland are looking for their fifth win on the bounce, which is something they have managed only once before during the professional era, back in 2011, but Hogg insists
that he and his fellow players are focused on the task ahead and letting the stats take care of themselves.
“A few of the boys would be aware of that but our message this week is very much to concentrate on ourselves and do everything we can to make sure we get the win,” he said.
“We are 100- per- cent respecting the opposition. We know it’s going to be a hugely physical test, and we know that they have strengths all over the park. So, you can talk about momentum and runs – and hopefully ours will continue – but you’ve got to make that happen. We can’t just sit back and think it’s going to click for us eventually. Our focus right now is the first 20 minutes of this game, and to make sure we get stuck right into them, because if we let a team like Italy come at us at their home then they’re just going to get better and better.”
Meanwhile, Fiji’s Autumn Nations Cup opener against France on Sunday has been cancelled after four more of the Islanders tested positive for coronavirus.
An additional round of Covid- 19 testing was carried out after a positive result was produced on Tuesday and, once it became known that the outbreak had spread, organisers chose to abort the game that was due to take place in Vannes.
With teams playing every weekend, there is no scope to reschedule the fixture and the outcome of the match will be determined at a meeting of the designated tournament subcommittee on Monday. Fiji are scheduled to play Scotland on November 28.