Stuart Hogg announces retirement from rugby

In something of a shock, Scotland centurion Stuart Hogg has announced his retirement from playing rugby with immediate effect.

Earlier this year, the 31-year-old former Glasgow Warriors and Exeter Chiefs full-back made known his intention to retire after the coming Rugby World Cup in France.

During this year’s Six Nations, Hogg perhaps failed to consistently meet his own high standards while Blair Kinghorn and Ollie Smith have both shown promise as his potential successors in the 15 shirt, despite limited opportunities. For this reason many believed that even if Hogg’s physical condition had held up, the tournament would have marked a fitting end to his impressive test career.

Despite this, it was surprising to hear the announcement there would be no World Cup, no Murrayfield swansong during the warm-up tests. After much contemplation, Hogg has decided to end his career now, before the tournament, due to the toll it would take on his body.

Hogg made history this year as the latest Scotland player to reach 100 caps, one of a very small group and with the greatest of respect to the others, few could argue his career had probably the biggest impact on the national side’s fortunes as well as the global game.

“I fought with everything I had to make the Rugby World Cup but this time my body has not been able to do the things I wanted and needed it to do. We knew this day would come eventually, I just never thought it would be this soon. It’s hard to put into words just how much of an impact the game has had on my life. I will be retiring knowing that I have given my body and heart to rugby. I will be forever grateful to this amazing community and cannot wait to begin my journey as a proud supporter of the team.”

Stuart Hogg

From his debut in February 2012 when he came off the bench against Wales after a memorable try for Scotland A against England Saxons the week before, Hogg was a bright spark.

Often the bright spark.

After his debut, Hogg made an instant impact in his first home start by scoring a try against France. He went on to represent Scotland at two World Cups, captaining the side in back-to-back wins over England in 2021 and 2022 as well as a historic victory against France in the Stade de France.

He will retire as Scotland’s record try scorer – although a number of the current squad are coming up hard on the rails for that particular feat – and holds the third most appearances as skipper.

Hogg won the PRO12 with Glasgow Warriors in 2015 as part of a Glasgow side who made the playoffs 5 seasons in a row, and became the youngest player to reach 100 club appearances aged 24.

After he moved to Premiership club Exeter Chiefs he was a key part of the team that lifted the European Champions Cup and Gallagher Premiership titles in 2020.

Hogg has also toured all three of the Lions southern hemisphere opponents in 2013, 2017 and 2021. From being the youngest on tour in Australia in 2013 guarding the stuffed Lion, by his final 2021 tour in South Africa Hogg had started two Tests, finally earning the shirt he’d come so close to on previous tours and dreamed of since a kid in Hawick.

For more than a few years, Hogg’s pace and verve from the back were a refreshing tonic at a bleak time for Scotland in general and Scottish back play in particular; he offered something new and refreshing we hadn’t seen in a Scotland player since the 1990s – possibly even since the heyday of Andy Irvine.

He wasn’t just a threat on the hoof – there was the siege gun boot that so often turned the opposition on their heels, versatility enough to play 10 (for his country and the Lions), the odd drop goal and more defensive plays than you might give him credit for.

That’s also the reason he has struggled lately: he’s carried the weight of Scotland’s expectations on his shoulders ever since his debut, and perhaps as fans we’ve expected too much from him at times. That weight has been clear to see at times, never more so than during his spell as captain.

It meant the world to Hogg to represent his country over the years, but that responsibility weighed heavy on him probably because of the type of personality he is, whereas pressure seems to bother a laid back character like Finn Russell less. His legacy may be that his career trajectory has allowed younger players like Darcy Graham to emerge almost unheralded despite their brilliance because we’re more used to Scotland backs showing moments of flair now; Hogg turned it from exception to rule. At the same time, we’ve become so used to it that we’re probably going to freak out if Scotland can’t produce more talents at that level,.

“I have had the pleasure of coaching Stuart for the majority of his career, and he was a joy to work with and watch on the training field and in games. He had a love for so many aspects of the game, and not only got joy from taking on defenders with ball in hand but also putting his teammates into space. His basic skills and speed set him apart from other players, and it has been an amazing effort to play Test rugby for the past 11 years. To reach 100 caps this year was fitting and just reward for a career that has seen him represent the British & Irish Lions and win trophies both domestically and at a European level.”

Gregor Townsend, Scotland Head Coach

Hogg was unlucky at times. Especially during the 2017 Lions when Conor Murray’s elbow accidentally sent him home early, or the tantalisingly close calls in recent years against New Zealand – the test in 2017 was probably one of his best games for Scotland and that final attack still breaks my heart every time – where the team had a real chance at history. Still, ticking off away wins in Wales, England and France will be a big part of his legacy.

Occasionally he has been the architect of his own misfortunes: spiky relations with the press during his captaincy, or his brief spell in the wilderness at Glasgow while apparently trying to engineer a big money move to Ulster that never materialised, that saw him miss Glasgow’s first PRO12 final.

Probably the best compliment we could pay Hoggy is that while a player of his calibre will always be missed, Scotland now has a generation of young players who have played with, or been inspired by, Stuart Hogg. The high-paced, incisive offloading game that was his hallmark is now Scotland’s Plan A: no longer an afterthought or an impossibility.

You can find Hoggy’s first appearance on the Scottish Rugby Blog, back in 2011, here. His career has spanned the lifetime of the blog and overall it has been a pleasure to watch him play.

Thanks for all the memories, Stuart.

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