Rubbing shoulders with the big boys will help Hogg’s squad for Six Nations

New Scotland Under-20 head coach Carl Hogg is hopeful the exposure his young players had to the full international squad during November will have made them battled hardened in time for the upcoming age-grade Six Nations.

The 49-year-old former Scotland back-row has taken over the role from Bryan Redpath, who was in charge for the World Championship in France last summer. And Hogg – who acted as a forwards coach on Scotland’s summer tour in 2018 – has already tapped into his friendship with exteam-mate Gregor Townsend in a bid to make sure his young charges are as well prepared as possible come their opener with Italy at Netherdale in Gala on 1 February.

“We trained against the Test squad in the autumn which was great as it allowed me to have a look at the young guys at that level, we supported Gregor mainly on Wednesdays throughout November,” said Hogg, pictured,theformerworcester Warriors’ head coach. “The guys in the under-20s pool took a lot from that and we are trying to give these young players the best opportunity to be ready to perform in the agegrade Six Nations.

“It is a big step from club games in the Tennent’s Premiership to the Academy level with Edinburgh and Glasgow – and hopefully the under-20s provides a platform for the players.”

Cameron Redpath and Gus Warr, who have both played for Scotland at lower agegrades before, are in England’s squad for the under-20 Six Nations. And while Hogg is disappointed to not have the talented duo available for selection, he has revealed that the SQ (Scottish Qualified) programme has thrown up a few new names from further afield who could feature during the tournament.

He said: “The SQ programme has been very good, there are a lot of Scottish exiles all over the world and as a small nation we need to tap into all of the people who could be available.

“It has thrown up some names and some guys have been involved in our training camps who we maybe wouldn’t have known about.”

Last season the under-20s finished sixth in the Six Nations and tenth in the World Championship.