Hogg is wanted for Olympics
SCOTLAND and Glasgow Warriors full-back Stuart Hogg has been officially approached to be part of the Great Britain rugby sevens team at the OIympics in Rio in August.
Sportsmail understands that his exciting try-scoring performances in the Six Nations caught the eye of GB Sevens head coach Simon Amor who wants him fast-tracked into his squad for Brazil.
Hogg has been sent a letter from the team management asking about his availability for the Olympics. His fellow Scotland and Warriors colleague Tommy Seymour is also likely to receive one over the next few weeks.
Of the two Scots, it is Hogg more than Seymour — that Amor wants to convince to play as he is the natural strong-running sevens player who can provide a flash of inspiration for the team in Rio.
The British and Irish Lion has a rich pedigree in the shortened version of the game playing regularly on the Borders Sevens circuit when he was coming through the ranks with Hawick.
He was Scotland’s star in the 2014 Commonwealth Games sevens in Glasgow and scored two superb individual tries in the fifteen-a-side game for Scotland in the Six Nations earlier this year. Although Sportsmail understands that the 23-year-old full-back is keen to play, there are obstacles in his way.
First and foremost, he will need to get the go-ahead from his employers, the SRU, who may block his way and order him instead to go on Scotland’s two-Test tour to Japan in June. Head coach Vern Cotter will be asked for his views before a final decision is made.
However, there will be pressure on the SRU to let Hogg go to Rio because of Scotland’s historical links to the sevens game.
The shortened version of rugby was invented by Borders butcher Ned Haig in 1883, with Edinburgh
winning yesterday’s Melrose Sevens at The Greenyards.
Their team made up of club professionals and seven experts such as Chris Dean and Damien Hoyland proved too strong for the amateur sides in the tournament, which they won by beating Jed-Forest 29-19 in the final.
None of the players on show at Melrose will feature in the GB Olympic team that will be dominated by English players and a few Welshmen.
If the SRU does give the go-ahead, then Hogg — named the Six Nations Player of the Tournament — would hook up with the GB Olympic Sevens squad over the summer.