VAN DER MERWE HAILS JOKER HOGG – AND EYES REVENGE

Scotland team-mates Duhan van der Merwe and Stuart Hogg, inset, have a great relationship on the pitch, but the big winger is being put through the wringer by the full-back off it.

In the build-up to Saturday’s 52-29 win over Argentina, Hogg’s social media accounts were littered with pranks at the expense of Van der Merwe, the latest showing Hogg sneaking into his pal’s hotel room and catching him offguard before a shower. The two are clearly good mates, but revenge is on the cards for Van der Merwe when Scotland next reconvene.

Van der Merwe laughed: “I’ve actually done well because the first couple of days, he got me a lot, maybe three or four times a day, but then he’s been struggling. Somehow he’s managed to get a key to my room. I’ve told people, ‘don’t give him a key’. He knew I was getting a haircut on Friday night and asked me what time I will be done. Me switching off, not thinking, half-past eight, he waits in my room for, I think he said 34 minutes. I’m going to have a shower and obviously I wasn’t expecting him there. You know what, I’m going to get him back. Six Nations, revenge, definitely. He was hiding in the bathroom, behind the door.”

Van der Merwe then put the jokes aside to pay tribute to the impact Hogg has on his game. “Hoggy’s very loud from the back and gives me a lot of confidence,” he said. “He knows when I lose my head, he always says, ’Duwi, forget about it, focus on the next job’, which is a real positive for me because that’s one of my biggest work-ons, I lose my head quite quickly. He’s just always in my ear, very loud on defence, it gives me confidence.”