Skipper Hogg insists Scots have to stay on right side of the ref
Stuart Hogg knows discipline is increasingly crucial in deciding who wins rugby Test matches.
In this year’s Six Nations, many games have hinged on one side getting on the wrong side of the referee.
Take Scotland’s two games. In the historic win against England the Auld Enemy constantly fell foul of the official, while against Wales last time out it was the Scots who were judged guilty of persistent infringements.
With Ireland visiting BT Murrayfield today, the Scotland skipper says: “The thing we’ve talked about is trusting our ability as individuals and as a team.Trustthatyoucandoyour role and trust that the man next to you is going to do his.
“You want to be in a situation this afternoon once the game’s finished that we have done all our basic things incredibly well and we’ve not had to bring the referee into play at all.
“At times we’ve let ourselves down by our ill-discipline.
“Giving away one penalty’s fine, giving away two you start to question it, giving away three or four is just unacceptable.
“But we’ve got strategies now to overcome that and we are in a better place because of it.
“I’d like to think we’ll not be making the same mistakes again.”
Today’s man in the middle is Romain Poite who has drawn the ire of the Scottish fans with some of his decisions in previous encounters.
Indeed, one of Hogg’s predecessors in the captain’s armband, Greig Laidlaw, said the Frenchman “doesn’t seem to like us” after an incident in this fixture two years ago that saw
Hogg have to leave the field injured.
“As with all referees, you have to try and get on their good side. It all depends on the manner in which you come across,” says the full-back.
“Just as in life, if you’re argumentative or confront them in the wrong way, they’re not going to listen to you.
“That’s something I’ve learned massively over the last year. I’ve watched a huge amount of different sports as well.
“You speak to umpires or referees – it’s all about building relationships. I’ve got a lot of respect for referees because they’ve not got an easy job.
“We need to make his job easier by just making sure we do all the basics really well, not giving him opportunities to penalise us, and making sure we don’t get on the wrong side of him.
“It’s a big challenge, it’s even more challenging when there is no crowd because you hear a lot more, but if we get things right in this game we’ll be in a good place.”
Coach Gregor Townsend has taken the bold step of not naming cover for star stand-off Finn Russell on the bench, meaning Hogg will step in as playmaker should anything untoward happen to the talismanic 10.
“I’d love to say that I stand and watch Finn Russell and see how to play 10 but there’s nobody in the world who can implement what he does.
“I’ve tried to watch training back and review how he’s been going but I just can’t do what he does so I’m not even going to try.
“For us today to be in with the best chance of winning we need Finn Russell on the money, for the forwards to give him dominance and get him on the front foot, and if I have to step in at 10 I’m more than happy to do whatever’s best for the team.
“In the Wales game in the autumn I played 10 for about 25 minutes and then against England covered 10 when Finn was in the bin.
“There were squeaky-bum moments but I believe in my ability to perform and make sure we’re driving the team around.”