Hogg helps Scots to finish on a high
By Mark Stevens
31/10/20
Stuart Hogg hailed Scotland’s adaptability as they secured their first away win in Wales for 18 years to round off their Guinness Six Nations campaign.
In an attritional contest played in tricky conditions, replacement Stuart McInally scored a second-half try as the visitors ground out the their second away victory in Wales in Six Nations history.
Rhys Carré dotted down for the hosts in the first half as they led at the break, but captain Hogg sealed the result with a late penalty.
The Scottish full-back - who helped the Chiefs to Premiership and Champions Cup success in the past fortnight - was forced to finish the game at fly-half after injuries to both the recalled Finn Russell and his replacement Adam Hastings hampered Gregor Townsend’s men.
But the setbacks couldn’t prevent them from claiming an historic victory to take home the Doddie Weir Cup.
“I’m absolutely delighted with the win, we knew full well we could come down here and get a performance and hopefully a win,” said Hogg.“I’m chuffed to bits with it. It’s been 18 years since we last won here, we’re delighted.
“You just look at this year, we’ve had to adapt and overcome a lot of things. It’s been a long, long time since I’ve been in the 10 jersey but I absolutely loved it.”
The result was not what Wales captain Alun Wyn Jones would have been hoped for, on the losing side on the day he celebrated becoming the world’s most capped international player on his 149th Test appearance.
Coming into the contest with just one win from their four Guinness Six Nations outings, the lock had outlined how Wales - who included Exeter’s Tomas Francis in their starting line-up - wanted to end the Championship on a high and give their fans something to think about.
But they were largely second best against an impressive Scotland side buoyed on by their bruising pack and will finish the Championship in fifth with just one defeat to their name.
Wales have now lost four matches in the Six Nations for the first time since 2007, and the captain felt the gloss of his big day on a personal level had been taken off due to the result of the collective.
He said: “Congratulations to Scotland and the way they ground out the win in the last ten minutes. Credit to the brand and the game they’ve developed.
“It was tight throughout and unfortunately we were on the wrong end of the performance.
“You could say we’ve had a six-month period between our last Guinness Six Nations match and this one, but there’s no excuse.I thought we were better in patches today, but ultimately the performance got away from us and it’s not good enough.”