SKIPPER HOGG IS READY TO STAND & DELIVER
STUART AIMS TO BE PERFECT 10 AGAINST ITALY AS HE SWITCHES POSITION IN FINN’S ABSENCE
IT DOESN’T say much for Jaco van der Walt’s claim on the Scotland No10 jersey. Still, if he’s going to be edged out of contention for anyone other than Finn Russell, the Edinburgh stand-off can take some consolation in the quality of the guy chosen ahead of him.
Stuart Hogg’s shift from full-back to fly-half for tomorrow’s Six Nations clash represents a risk, of sorts, by Gregor Townsend. But the Scotland head coach is banking on the skipper’s world-class ability to shine in his first Test start in the role.
Townsend has shuffled his squad dramatically for the visit of Championship no-hopers Italy, the selection of Scott Steele in place of Ali Price meaning the home side will field an all-new half-back pairing at BT Murrayfield.
Despite four of the tight five from last weekend’s bruising defeat to Ireland also missing out, either through injury or simply given a rest, the starting XV should still have enough to put clear blue water between themselves and the Azzurri before the replacements — including Van der Walt — are given a run-out.
The South Africa-born stand-off has made just one appearance for Scotland since becoming eligible under residency rules late last year.
Asked if the 27-year-old’s nose had been put out of joint by the decision to shift Hogg rather than promote someone who does the job for a living, Townsend insisted: ‘No, I don’t think it was. He obviously wasn’t involved last week.
‘We know having Jaco on the bench gives us security, let’s say, in that he’s someone playing regularly at ten, a goal kicker, a good defender.
‘He missed the game two weeks ago with injury but has been training with us, training well.
‘It was a close decision but we feel this is a good time now for Stuart to play longer at ten, see if that is an option when we have to put a squad together, whether he covers ten or we have Jaco or Adam (Hastings) on the bench.’
Hogg moved up the line when Russell was forced out with a head knock against Ireland, looking pretty comfortable in the role.
‘He obviously covered ten last week and has covered there in previous games,’ said Townsend.
‘So we believe that gives us a better balance to the team and we’re keen to see him play there.
‘If he’s going to be a reserve ten in our squad at times, this is a good opportunity to see him starting there.’
Reminded that Hogg had previously declared his dislike for putting the No10 jersey on even in emergency situations, a laughing Townsend declared: ‘He said he was misquoted! No, he said to me the next day that wasn’t what he meant.
‘I think Stuart is one of the best full-backs in the world. He’s played some outstanding games for us at full-back over the last number of years and been in great form this year. Full-back is his position.
‘But given his experience, his leadership, his ability and all-round skill set, we see him being able to cover other positions as required.’
Responding to a suggestion that the selection of Hogg at ten and Huw Jones in place of Chris Harris at outside centre hinted at a more adventurous approach against the porous Italian defence, Townsend (left) asked: ‘Hoggy more attacking than Finn? That’s an interesting one… ‘We’ll play with a similar mindset and strategy to what we’ve had so far in the Championship. ‘A lot of that is where the space is, how to create that space. That could be moving the ball in a certain way or it could be kicking. ‘Stuart’s got a very good kicking game. Huw has earned his right by his performances at 13 for Glasgow and his impact off the bench.
‘We’re also managing resources a bit there, with Chris having played a lot of rugby for us. But we’re keen to see how Huw goes and with Stuart at ten.’
Steele, whose last two appearances for Scotland have been as an emergency replacement at wing and then openside flanker, might have wondered what fresh challenge Townsend had in store for him this week.
Given the line-out problems exposed by Ireland, the Harlequins scrum-half might have been studying the calls in anticipation of a tricky shift at hooker.
Insisting that picking Steele over the more experienced Price at No9 didn’t represent too great a gamble, Townsend said: ‘Stuart is going to be playing with a new
scrum-half no matter because he’s not started in that role for us.
‘He’s worked with Ali at club level but not as a half-back pairing.
‘It’s a new half-back combination, so there are going to be parts where they are maybe not as fluent, there will be errors and we understand that.
‘But they are both very good rugby players who will bring a lot of energy, and I’m sure they’ll build that cohesion as we get closer towards the game and during the 80 minutes.
‘It’s a similar one to Dave Cherry coming in for George Turner (at hooker). Chris Harris and Ali have played the last how many games — eight I think — so they have been regulars in our team.
‘Scott has come into our squad and come off the bench on three occasions, but only once at scrum-half and that performance was excellent down at Twickenham, when he really helped control those last ten-15 minutes.
‘We believe this is the right time for him to get that opportunity and he’s worked hard for it.
‘His work rate, defensive attributes and all-round skills should see him go well.
‘When you are looking at a selection, you are looking to put the best players out on the field.
‘And you’re looking to have players in line who might be able to do things this week because they’ve been working hard for that opportunity — and because they’re not coming off the back of a full 80-minute Test match six days ago.
‘Knowing Ali is on the bench, too, he’ll be very keen to get on and add to what the team has done in that first 50, 60, 70 minutes, to help the team win.’
Regardless of who takes part for exactly how long, Townsend expects every single Scotland player to show more fight and fire after a fairly limp loss to the Irish.
‘We didn’t show enough physicality against Ireland at times and they had the upper hand in the contact area,’ he admitted.
‘And although we defended well in terms of our stats, we felt we could have had more bite in our tackles.
‘We look to set a really high standard and we dropped off that standard at the weekend.
‘We believe Italy brings lots of aggression through the way they defend through their forwards.
‘We saw that when we played them in November, we’ve seen that in patches in their games in the Six Nations.’