Hogg is relieved to rally in Rome
COMETH the hour, cometh the man. Just when Scotland needed a try, up popped Stuart Hogg to deliver. With the clock showing just nine minutes to go, his first try of this Six Nations could not have come at a better time.
Behind to an Italian team on the march, he took an opportunity to latch on to a pass from Greig Laidlaw and get between two defenders to score.
There was a brief second when Jayden Hayward looked as if he was going to bundle him over the goalline and into the dead-ball area but the Scotland full-back was too clever to let him.
The look of relief on the face of every Scots fan inside the Stadio Olimpicio was clear to see when he touched down. After Laidlaw put over the tricky conversion, they were even more relaxed.
Hogg’s try kept up his impressive record of scoring at least one in every Six Nations tournament since he made his debut in 2012.
The game was not over yet, with Tommaso Allan sending over a penalty to put Italy ahead. Then Laidlaw broke their hearts with one of his own to secure victory.
Hogg admitted to being relieved at the win and playing his own small part in it.
‘I was just trying to make the conversion as easy as I could by trying to take it as near to the posts as possible and got it down just as the guy tackled me,’ said Hogg, who believes, with a bit of improvement, Scotland can ‘challenge for trophies’ next season.
‘I was pleased to get the try but that was a fantastic team effort considering we weren’t at our best against a very good Italian side.
‘We allowed them too much time and space on the ball and they showed how good a side they are.
‘We had a disappointing first half going in behind but we had a better second half and the way we came back into the match shows the character of the boys.
‘We showed our character by not panicking out there when we were behind. We knew we could get back into that game. As soon as we got the try through Sean Maitland, I felt that we could get control back.
‘We wanted to keep the game flowing as much as we could and the tries would come off the back of that and they did.’
Hogg’s try was the icing on the cake of an excellent performance for the full-back, who was one of Scotland’s better players in a belowpar performance for his team.
He ran the ball 111 metres from 18 carries, which was the highest total on either side. Taking over the clearance kicking duties from Finn Russell for the second game in a row, his spiralling boots to touch relieved pressure on his side.
‘I was happy to help out any way I could,’ said the full-back. ‘I think I have a good kicking game which enables me to take a little pressure off Finn, so he can get involved in the area round the lineout plays and relax a little more.’
Since Gregor Townsend took over in the summer, it has been the back division that has been winning games for Scotland with a succession of tries.
Hogg admitted when the chips were down it was the forwards — two of whom, Fraser Brown and John Barclay, scored tries — that pulled Scotland back into the game.
‘The forwards were outstanding,’ said Hogg, who scored his 18th try for Scotland on his 60th cap.
‘You have to look at the driving maul and how phenomenal it was. We finish off the tries but the boys up front do all the hard work and full credit to them. I will be sure to buy them a beer tonight.’
The victory gave Scotland three tournament victories in successive Six Nations Championships for the first time ever.
For Hogg, that is a clear sign of progress, especially as one of them has now been away from home. It may be just Italy, who have not won a game and picked up the Wooden Spoon, but victory on the road is a morale boost for his team.
‘We are looking to get better individually and collectively and be in a position to win trophies next season,’ he added. ‘We are on the right track.
‘Last week’s defeat to Ireland was disappointing as we viewed that as a sort of semi-final. Win there and we could challenge for the Championship in Rome. We have come up short but we are still in a good place. The main thing for us is to constantly learn and improve — individually and collectively.
‘That was a win for us away from home against a good team, so we’ll take confidence from that. We know we can improve but we got there.
‘We will go into the summer tour against Canada, USA and Argentina in an even better place.’
Scotland captain Barclay praised the way his team ground out the victory, saying: ‘We came here to win and we did. It wasn’t perfect by any manner of means but we got the victory.
‘That had been the story of our Six Nations. When we are accurate, we are very good and play some good stuff but that was tough out there but it was still a victory.’
It was a fantastic team effort. We were not at our best against Italy