There is a four-legged secret weapon who could yet pierce English hearts at Twickenham next week. His name is Arrow, an Irish sport horse who stands 17 hands and is high among the reasons why his owner, the Scotland captain Stuart Hogg, has never sounded happier before a Six Nations campaign. “He’s a big old beast,” says Hogg affectionately. “Horses are such wonderful animals. They can make you completely forget about everything else in life.”
It is a lovely mental image: Hogg on his trusty hunter, the flying Scotsman at full gallop across the beautiful Devon countryside he calls home. One of the bonuses of moving to Exeter from Glasgow has been the chance to get back in the saddle. As a kid, he even fancied becoming a jockey and grew up around horses in Hawick, his home town in the Borders. The Hawick Common Riding is still a popular annual festival, commemorating among other things the capture of an English flag by a bunch of young locals in 1514.
Why is this relevant to this year’s Calcutta Cup or Exeter’s Premiership fixture at Worcester in which Scotland’s full-back is due to play after a month recuperating from a slight hamstring injury? Because an emotionally upbeat, fully fit Hogg is among rugby’s most exhilarating sights, his pace from deep and thunderous boot an adornment to any side. If leaning on a gate and stroking Arrow, and his wife Gillian’s pure thoroughbred Richie – “We call them the two hairy bairns” – helps Scotland secure a first win over England at Twickenham since 1983, Gregor Townsend will pick up his skipper’s hay bills indefinitely.
In these difficult lockdown days it is also hard to understate the value of a national captain who is “in a really good place physically and mentally”. If there was a slight risk in heading south to an unfamiliar region, it has clearly paid off. Not only has Hogg’s professional life been deeply satisfying – in his first season the Chiefs collected a European and Premiership double – but he, Gillian and their three young children are relishing their new base in Ottery St Mary, about 10 miles east of Exeter.
To some extent he feels the family have come full circle, despite the fact “home” is 360 miles south of Hadrian’s Wall. “I did find it difficult at first moving to the concrete jungle of Glasgow. As it turned out I really enjoyed my time there but I now feel I’m living in a place that is as close to home as I possibly could be. There’s a lot of countryside around and we’ve got horses back in our lives. I had to give mine up when I moved to Glasgow and it’s great to have them again. It’s a good way to relax and unwind. I’ve got the stresses and strains that come from playing rugby and Gillian can have some free time away from the kids having spent all day with them. We really enjoy it.”
In other ways, too, England is proving an unexpected pleasure. “We’re really friendly with our neighbours here and we live in a lovely little street where all the families are close. It was completely different in Glasgow. We didn’t really know our neighbours’ names. Everything’s a lot easier down here. Both my wife and the kids have got new friends and that’s allowed Gillian to settle quicker than we anticipated. That makes me happy and makes me comfortable.”
Even the home schooling is going OK – “My wife’s an absolute superstar, I’ve got a severe lack of patience but she’s nailing it” – leaving Hogg to concentrate on his rugby. After 80 caps for Scotland and two British & Irish Lions tours he should have little left to prove, but an intense desire to help club and country succeed still burns.
“The reason I play for Scotland is that I’m very passionate about making a difference. That’s the reason I wanted to become captain. The big thing for us is believing in our own abilities. I’m not going to sit here and say we’re going to win the Six Nations because all we’re doing for now is concentrating on England. But I am really excited: next week’s game is going to be a massive Test match.”
Training alongside his old colleague Finn Russell this season has further heightened that optimism. Hogg was the tournament’s player of the season in 2016 and 2017 but, as an admittedly distant relation of the late George Best, he knows a super-talented fellow musketeer when he sees one. “On his day he’s one of the best 10s in the world so we’re very lucky to have him in a Scotland jersey. He makes everything tick for us … when he’s on his game we’re going to be tough to stop.”
That was certainly true in the second half at Twickenham two years ago when Scotland rallied from 31-0 down to secure a 38-38 draw. Hogg remembers the day well, despite not playing. “It was my daughter’s second birthday and everybody was over at our house back in Hawick. Full credit to England, they were absolutely outstanding in that first half. But it also showed the character and ability we’ve got in our squad. Everybody in the world had probably written us off after 40 minutes but, in the end, we were really disappointed not to win.”
The next challenge is to go one better, having already conquered the supposedly jinxed cabbage patch for Exeter in October’s Premiership final. “To be a first-time winner at Twickenham was quite a thrill,” he says, wincing at the memory of the simultaneous post-match kisses he received from two of his new Devonian friends, Jack Yeandle and Ben Moon.
“The old boys were looking after their adopted Scotsman. I really am enjoying it down here. It’s a great club and I count myself very lucky to be a part of it. We want to continue this journey we’re on and hopefully pick up more trophies along the way.”
And if that requires the occasional long-distance trek, Covid permitting, to bolster Exeter on a fallow Six Nations weekend, Hogg will cheerfully oblige. “I’ve missed the last month through injury so I just want to play rugby. If it’s safe for me to travel, fair play. If it’s not, I’ll absolutely understand.” For Scotland’s exiled chieftain, it is all about the thrill of the chase.
