The pain of this defeat is going to take us some time to get over

SAYS STUART HOGG

We thought we could achieve something special but we came up short

STUART HOGG was fighting back tears last night as he admitted the pain of World Cup defeat to Japan will linger for some time to come.

The talismanic full-back vowed to restore Scotland’s battered rugby reputation — but the journey ahead will not be an easy one. Sweeping changes will have to be made if Scotland’s revival is to come in time for the next Six Nations.

‘This is going to kill us for a few months, but I believe we will get better for the experience and go on to put Scotland back on the map,’ said Hogg.

‘I don’t think it has actually kicked in yet, what’s happened. When it does, it will eat away at me for a long, long time. But this is the place we’ve put ourselves in.

‘On a personal level, it’s given me the kick up the backside that I probably needed to get better, to learn, and I can guarantee every single player in that Scotland team is the same. If we were at our best, we wouldn’t be going home. It is as simple as that.’

Hogg was in floods of tears four years ago when Scotland crashed out of the World Cup at the quarter-final stage. That day he had referee Craig Joubert to blame after the official wrongly awarded a last-minute, match-winning penalty kick to Australia.

After Scotland’s latest World Cup exit, Hogg admitted the only people to blame this time round were the players themselves.

‘We believed we could come here and achieve something special, but we haven’t managed to make it past the group stages,’ said Hogg.

‘It’s tough. The boys are devastated but we can’t change anything, we are going home. We have to go back to the drawing board having come here to Japan believing we could do something.

‘We have to learn from this, individually and collectively. We have got to want to improve and learn. We need to put our bodies on the line at every opportunity. Every time you pull on a Scotland jersey you have to give your all. I believe we did at times.’

The Scotland dressing room was a ‘bleak’ place last night as the inquest began into why the national team had failed to perform once more on the big occasion.

After all the threats of legal action in the build-up to the game, Gregor Townsend’s side were swept aside by a Japan team that seemed inspired by the drama and tragedy off the field.

‘We are absolutely devastated and, believe me, it’s a pretty bleak changing room to be in,’ said Hogg. ‘The boys are gutted. I truly believe we could have got the win we needed to at least make it to the quarter-finals.

‘Unfortunately, we came up short and, to be brutally honest, we were beaten by the better side.

‘So fair play to Japan, they took their opportunities and, if you give a team like that 28 points, you will have to do something exceptional to win.

‘You have to give them credit. At times I thought they were outstanding, but we coughed up some early ball and that put us on the back foot. You need to take your chances in a Test match and, if you give away cheap ball, a team like Japan will punish you.

‘They compounded our every error and we found ourselves behind our goalposts before we knew it. At times we showed exactly what we were about, we scored early doors and got ourselves into the lead.

‘But after that the momentum swung their way and they are a tough team to stop, especially with a crowd like that behind them.

‘Fair play to them, they took their chances. They are a team built on confidence and we simply didn’t do enough. They are a terrific side with some quality individuals who play well collectively and are a team built on confidence. As soon as they get on to the front foot they are incredibly hard to stop.

‘We knew Japan were going to be bring some heat and believed we had the game plan to make the most of that. And at times we created chances but couldn’t finish them off due to a lack of accuracy.

‘Japan have put on a hell of a World Cup so far and here’s hoping they can go further. We will be right behind them. They are on the up and work incredibly hard to improve their game. I wish them all the best.’