I kicked the ball and it felt like someone had stabbed me in the hip
STUART HOGG has revealed how he felt like he had been ‘stabbed in the hip’ when he pulled up in agony during the warm-up for Scotland’s match with Australia in November.
Buoyed by an incredible performance the week before when he so nearly provided the platform for a first-ever victory over the All Blacks, Scotland fans were devastated to see their world-class full-back withdraw from the Wallabies game immediately before kick-off.
Hogg was delighted to see Gregor Townsend’s men produce a rousing 53-24 win in his absence, but the hip problem which has kept him on the sidelines ever since proved to be just the latest setback in an injury-plagued 2017 for the Glasgow Warriors star.
Yesterday, the 25-year-old gave the Scots a massive boost ahead of the Six Nations opener with Wales on February 3 by revealing that he hopes to be back playing for Dave Rennie’s side again ‘in the next couple of weeks’.
But, as he reflected on a difficult 12 months which also saw him forced home from the British and Irish Lions tour of New Zealand with a facial injury before undergoing shoulder surgery, Hogg vividly described the excruciating pain he felt before realising he was going to play no part in what turned out to be a famous triumph over the Aussies at Murrayfield.
‘Hopefully, in the next couple of weeks, I’ll be back on the pitch and I’ll be ready to rock and roll again, we are getting there,’ he told the BBC’s Rugby Union Weekly podcast.
‘It has been a challenging year for me, if I am honest.
‘It was great to be on my second Lions tour, but injury put a stop to that and so far I have only actually played four games of rugby in 2017-18.
‘I managed to get a seven centimetre tear (around the hip area). I think I did it in the midweek leading up to the Australia game
‘I was running full pelt (indoors at Oriam) to score a try and I had to stop quickly and I think I pulled it then.
‘Then in the warm-up for the game I kicked the ball and it felt like somebody had stabbed me in the hip, so it was a bit frustrating because I had just come back from a long-term shoulder injury and was starting to get a bit of form back.
‘You have to go back to square one and, for me, it has been a very frustrating period because I have never really had injuries before.
‘The last time I touched the ball, I was nearly scoring a try to beat the All Blacks, so I am itching to get going.’
That moment to which he refers will live long in the memory.
In the dying seconds of an amazing match at Murrayfield, Hogg went flying down the left wing and looked like he was going to grab the third try that would have tied things up at 22-22 with a conversion still to come.
However, after he skipped past opposite number Damian McKenzie and had the crowd on their feet, stand-off Beauden Barrett came across and hauled him down with a great tackle.
That forced Hogg to spill the ball forward and the Kiwis held on for victory.
‘I think about that moment all of the time and it kills me,’ revealed Hogg.
‘I have watched it numerous times and tried to see what I could have done differently.
‘The main thing is that I learn from that and, if I am in the same situation going forward, then we can have a better outcome next time.
‘I have watched the clip far too many times and every time I dream that I will score in the corner.
‘If I had maybe stepped in a bit and taken the tackle and set up another phase then maybe someone else would have scored, but I thought I could get to the try line and I am always one to back my own abilities.’
Hogg is itching to contribute again to what looks like being an exciting time for the Scots under Townsend’s stewardship.
‘With Scotland it is the first time in a long time that we have had real strength in depth and a coaching staff that can keep improving us,’ he said.
‘I get more and more excited every time I go into a Scotland camp.’