Should Hogg get a run at 10 for Scotland?

First topic message reminder :

I know he has just had one game at 10, and it was against pretty poor opposition, but by all accounts it sound like Hogg had a strong game at 10 today. So that begs the question – should he be played at 10 for Scotland? I thought I’d look at the arguments.

For

Hogg is the most naturally gifted player in the Scotland squad.

He has a massive boot, good passer, outrageous sidestep and gas to burn.

He also has a good rugby brain and, at 20, has plenty time to develop.

Scotland have not had a good stand off for a long time, and lets face it our options for the future aren’t exactly setting the heather on fire.

Turns out he is a pretty good goal kicker – removes the reliance on Ladilaw


Against

Can Hogg produce for Scotland against top opposition when he has Matt Scott and De Luca outside him instead of Roberts and BoD, and his pack are getting a limited supply of ball?

Do we need to consider him at 10 when we have put a lot of time and effort into Weir, Jackson and youngsters such as Heathcoat, Leonard, Hunter, Rusell etc?

Do we sacrifice one of the best attacking fullbacks in NH rugby for a solid yet unspectacular fullback such as Tonks or Murchie?

Will Glasgow want to play Hogg there when they have plenty 10s but a limited number of 15s?

His tackling is generally pretty good but with the odd laps – is this an issue?


My view

Hogg is an incredible talent and, at 20, has a whole lot of developing still to do. At fullback he gives us real security with his big boot and a lethal counter attacking option. However I think it’s fair to say our current 10s are solid if unspectacular, and he could be the spark that sets off Scottish rugby.

However I don’t want him to be messed around like Mossy was and to a certain extent Laidlaw – he needs his position to be sorted.

Saying that my personal view is to continue the experiement for a season – primarily play him at 15 but slot him in for the odd game for Glasgow and maybe Scotland. This will give him time to decide whether he likes to play there, and also give the Scottish coaches time to determine whether he is a viable option.

maes, I think you're being overly generous there tbh - he looked comfy against the Country part-timers, but with less space, poor service and no platform, he wasn't able to show the same authority that you need from a 10. Experiment over

Weeeellllll - as the usual voice of reason.........

I think it should be something that is still considered, if we look at his game we can analysis the move.. for example two areas

Both games can not tell us the answer, but some aspects can be inferred. He has the skills to play 10  -would he be world class - can not tell

If we take the positives and negatives of his game we can shape a cloud of opinion


Defense - however we want to defend him, Hoggs defense is quite weak. Now I am certain that can and will be worked on, as he is not a scarycat (unlike some Dutch tacklers) - at 10 this is less of an issue and in fact for a 10 he is an ample tackler, but at full back it could be a weakness

Running - his major strength, and certainly a + for his full back position - his strike running is shaping up to be a stunning positive. This running and speed is also helpful at 10, but may not be used quite as much

So in my opinion, not an open or shut case - it does depend on who else can take the roles on, how much impact he can have in 10 vs 15 and generally what he would like to go with (Maybe he wants to play 10?!)

One thing I am also thinking is, should we request our players back from the Lions. I feel that this tour is really going to damage them

They are getting dicked around by Gatland and feel that they could actually damage their physi

In my opinion Hogg should be left to develop at 15, he’s a very good fullback with the potential to be very, very good.  Moving him to 10 is going to hinder his progress at 15, as he has to learn a whole new position, and he could turn out to be terrible at 10 whereas we already know he’s good – very good at FB.
 
Also when he was tipped to move to 13 (why do we want to keep moving this lad around?) he said that 15 suited him better because the space allowed him to utilise his skills and he was happy there.

So in summary: He likes playing 15 + he’s very good at 15 = let’s leave him be and focus on our actual 10 options rather than trying to shoehorn him in on the basis of one game against a primarily amateur side.

Article talking about him liking playing at 15 - Hootsman

We always do this with our best players. As soon as a player shows any natural ability, we do our utmost to ruin him. Townsend was shifted about, Chris Paterson was shifted about horribly and now Hogg (and presumably Maitland as a result).

He should take it as a compliment. We don't seem to muck players about if they're useless in their chosen position.....

I will be an angry (even angrier) man if Hogg gets shifted to 10 or 13 again next season.

funnyExiledScot wrote:We always do this with our best players. As soon as a player shows any natural ability, we do our utmost to ruin him. Townsend was shifted about, Chris Paterson was shifted about horribly and now Hogg (and presumably Maitland as a result).

He should take it as a compliment. We don't seem to muck players about if they're useless in their chosen position.....

I will be an angry (even angrier) man if Hogg gets shifted to 10 or 13 again next season.

No need

Very true - what was I thinking!

But he is not the messiah, he is a naughty naughty boy...

I wonder what % of our discussions on here revolve around the messiah?

100% more than ought to be the case!

Even when a thread is not about Bennett, it's still about him really.

AsLongAsBut100ofUs wrote:maes, I think you're being overly generous there tbh - he looked comfy against the Country part-timers, but with less space, poor service and no platform, he wasn't able to show the same authority that you need from a 10.  Experiment over

It wasnt a comfortable situation for any flyhalf but he dealt with it better than many established flyhalfs in my opinion. He's a good lad and can easily play both positions well enough to be considered.