THE SCOTSMAN REPORTRS
Sevens festival serves up end-of-season treat



Published Date: 30 May 2009
By David Ferguson
WITH temperatures forecast to top 70F and clear skies beckoning rugby supporters to Murrayfield and Scottish rugby's 2008-9 finale, Allister Hogg would be forgiven for wanting to savour the atmosphere of the Emirates Airline Edinburgh Sevens from a comfortable seat in the West Stand.
The Edinburgh and Scotland back row has certainly earned a summer holiday, having become the first player in the capital to play every match of the Magners League and Heineken Cup season. His failure to command a place in the Scotland squad has also

contributed, but there is no doubting the effort put in since pre-season started last July, and yet he wants more.

When asked if he would be interested in representing Scotland in the final two events in the IRB World Sevens Series, the former Stirling County forward jumped at it. He had never played sevens for his country before, and it capped a full house of age-grade and senior honours. Hogg admitted this week that he was struggling to move, never mind jump at times during the first week's introduction, however.

"I had quite a week getting up to speed with it all," he said, with a hint of understatement. "Then we had Kenya first up in the Twickenham tournament and I'm sitting waiting to see what part I might play and coach Stevie Gemmell said my name in the team. I didn't expect to start straight away. I looked at Greig Laidlaw; he just raised his eyebrows, and I thought 'oh-ho, here we go'.

"But I thoroughly enjoyed the whole thing. It's a really competitive squad and with Sean Lamont in now that's going to add an extra dimension. It's about horses for courses as well, with different players suited to different opposition.

"I feel good now – yes, blowing out my backside a few times during the week – but training has been very good; the intensity; it's actually been harder than some of the games last weekend. But that's been good for me, and is good for Sean this week, to get a feel for that. We need that to get used to the pace of sevens."

Hogg's passion for playing week in week out has always been there. His career followed a steep rise virtually from the moment he was marked out as a talented all-round player in Scotland age-grade teams that claimed historic wins against England. He started all 12 Test matches of Matt Williams' first year, 2004, from his debut against Wales at the start of that year, and then all nine in 2005, as well as the Barbarians game, and another seven and the Baa-Baas on the trot in 2006 before a knee ligament injury ruled him out of the autumn.

Though he had to bide his time on the bench in 2007, he still made 11 Test appearances, ending as a regular in the Scotland back row in the Rugby World Cup. 2008 started well too, with six Tests and a crucial first win in Argentina, but this season he has been largely overlooked in the face of talents John Barclay, Alasdair Strokosch, Kelly Brown, Scott Gray and his long-time rival Simon Taylor. It was tough also in a British and Irish Lions context as Hogg at his best was a definite contender, not least with his ability to cover all three back row berths, but 2005 was too early and he has not been in the frame for 2009.

With Ross Rennie having made his international bow and Roddy Grant, Alan MacDonald and Dave Callam all in the mix at Edinburgh next season, the competition is only stiffening. But Hogg is still only 26 and he is a firm believer that the way to success lies in rediscovering the fun and enjoyment of sport.

"That is big for me – the fun side," he said. "You work very hard as professionals and it's been tough this season, but we have good players and for Scotland to improve we need strong competition. That's healthy. But sometimes we take rugby a bit too seriously and get worked up a bit too much, so this week has been great.

"For me sevens is all new, but the whole experience has been great. With all the teams in the same hotel, it has a very relaxed feel to it. And you could see at the weekend the guys were all enjoying playing alongside each other and we got the results, and sometimes I think that's the best way for Scotland to play.

"It has been a massive learning experience for me, and I've been asking the experienced guys Scotty (Forrest], Budgie (Colin Gregor] and Mikey Adamson what should I be doing here and there, and if you do this what line should I run. They've been really helpful, talking me through things and hopefully I've picked it up pretty quickly and can improve again this weekend."

He added: "I'd actually love to play more sevens. It's a great opportunity for players. I was talking about that today with John Houston and Greig Laidlaw, about the chance to play a circuit, to have a real crack at it. You hear a lot about these great tournaments in Hong Kong, Wellington and Dubai, and to go out there and experience it, and see a bit more of the world, would be great.

"But right now I'm happy this is the final event of the season, and pretty excited about finishing it at Murrayfield on a good weekend. It will be tough, I know, but the guys showed what we were capable of in reaching the semi-final last weekend, so we'll be going for it again – all guns blazing. Is there any other way?"

Scotland 7s squad: S Forrest (Ayr) capt, M Adamson (Glasgow), R Grant (West of Scotland), C Gregor (Glasgow), A Hogg, J Houston, G Laidlaw (all Edinburgh), S Lamont (Llanelli), H O'Hare, C Shaw (both Glasgow), J Thompson, A Turnbull (both Edinburgh).

Scotland fixtures: Today - England v Scotland (12.09pm), Kenya v Scotland (3.13pm), Canada v Scotland (6.56pm).

This article was posted on 30-May-2009, 06:52 by Hugh Barrow.