Now try scorer Ollie has huge fight on his hands with Hogg
HE may have had a dream start on his home international debut, but Ollie Smith is under no illusion how tough it will be to dislodge one of the world’s finest full-backs from Scotland’s starting XV.
Smith — who wore the No 15 jersey in place of Stuart Hogg in Saturday’s 16-15 defeat by australia — scored an impressive try to put the Scots ahead after 12 minutes at BT murrayfield.
The 22-year-old capitalised on a break after a bright opening by the Wallabies, the Glasgow full-back receiving a sweet offload from Blair Kinghorn and jinking through the opposition defence to plant the ball to the left of the posts.
That he did it so confidently was a great way to settle the nerves, the Prestwick-born player ducking and diving in a manner that was almost ‘Hogg-esque’ in its audacity.
The fact he’ll now have to fight the Exeter star for a regular start in the team is a challenge in itself, but one that’s unlikely to faze the young Warrior, whose career is very much in the ascendancy.
‘you’re always fighting for your position, whether here or Glasgow or anywhere,’ observed Smith.
‘Obviously Hoggy is one of the best in the world and has been for many years. He’s very experienced.’
Hogg is expected to return to the starting line-up on Saturday when Scotland go head-to-head with Fiji. With the game against australia taking place outside the international window, only Scotlandbased players could feature for Gregor Townsend’s men in the first match of the series. The head coach is expected to make a raft of changes.
For Hogg, this represents an important chapter in his international career. Stripped of the captaincy, he is being afforded the chance to shine again on the world stage, after being rested for the tour to South america.
The 30-year-old said he was ‘naturally disappointed’ to be removed from the skipper’s role but insisted it would not affect how he approached the game. Townsend, meanwhile, said it would allow Hogg to concentrate on being the best player he could be.
His return may well result in a period on the sidelines for Smith, but the younger man is philosophical about the opportunities that lie ahead. While desperate to make the position his own one day, he admits there is no ill-feeling between him and a player he greatly admires. ‘I wouldn’t say there’s any bad blood there,’ he declared. ‘I would say it is healthy competition. I’ll do the best I can. ‘We had brief conversations (before the match). He’s a good role model to have, someone in the camp who always leads by example, so I can feed off that.’ Certainly, Smith’s performance impressed the Scotland management team. While he still has improvements to make, he did well to remain composed and was instrumental in preventing a potential try from the opposition — sweeping up when andrew Kellaway’s chipped ball forward bobbled close to the home line.
For his try, he admitted he ‘didn’t know what to do’ with himself when space opened up before him.
‘I thought: “If I don’t score here, someone is going to kill me”! That was what literally was going through my head, but I got there in the end,’ he admitted.
It was a blistering beginning for the Scots in a game which ultimately ended in disappointment. For Smith, it really did feel like ‘the one that got away’.
‘We know we could have won that game,’ he acknowledged. ‘It’s a tough one to take. It just shows we can be up there with the best of them. We were never really out of that game. It felt like we were always in a position to win.’
Townsend noted Smith had had an ‘excellent game’ despite having issues with a tightened calf towards the end. as first games in front of a home crowd go, this was a very positive start from a player who progressed through the Scotland age-grades set-up.
His debut came against argentina in July, in the third of the summer Tests. Parents Gavin and alison had flown out to South america to support Smith, but sadly missed his call-up after having to return home a match too early.
They finally got the chance to see him in action on Saturday. It was a particularly poignant occasion for the ayrshire-based family, who lost their eldest son Patrick in a tragic accident in 2019.
Speaking exclusively to Sportsmail, Ollie’s father Gavin said: ‘We’ve had the privilege of watching him play for Scotland through age grades in the past, but this is totally different, in front of 60,000 people at murrayfield where he and I had gone to watch Scotland matches when he was just a boy. To see him on the field and to hear the noise, especially when he went over for the try, it was just breathtaking. It was an amazing feeling.
‘It’s just such a shame that, as Ollie’s game and experience continues to rise, Patrick, our other son isn’t there to share in all the good moments.
‘He was a big supporter of the game. When Ollie went to argentina for the Under-20s World Championships and scored twice against New Zealand, one of Patrick’s flat-mates sat and watched the game with him in Edinburgh and said he was elated when Ollie scored. We heard those lovely words on the day of his memorial service, so we know he’d have been thrilled to have been at murrayfield and would have enjoyed seeing Ollie score there, too.’