Hogg apologises for error in defeat
By Mark Stevens
1/2/20
Stuart Hogg apologised to his team-mates for his “schoolboy error” during his side’s 19-12 loss to Ireland in their Guinness Six Nations opener in Dublin.
The hosts were 13-6 up after 50 minutes when Scotland, camped on the Irish line, worked the ball out to the left wing where their world-class captain and full-back had the simplest of jobs to dot down and leave Adam Hastings with a kick to equal the scores.
Instead, the Exeter Chiefs star seemed to lose concentration and let slip of the ball just inches from the turf with not an opponent in sight.
Bundee Aki, the nearest Irish player to the incident, highlighted the faux pas immediately and the TMO was in full agreement.
No try.
It seemed, even then, to be a costly mistake and so it proved.Scotland dominated swathes of a frustrating contest, but were unable to convert a glut of promising field position into a try that might have ended their 10-year wait for a Dublin victory.
New captain Johnny Sexton scored all of Ireland's points, including a first-half try, whilst the visitors countered with four penalties from the boot of Glasgow Warriors fly-half Adam Hastings.
“Schoolboy error,” said Hogg at the final whistle. “I can't change what's happened, I just have to deal with it. I've apologised to the boys. We got ourselves into some good positions through the forwards' hard work and bitterly disappointed not to finish it off.”
Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend said Hogg was "outstanding" during the game and should "flush" the error and move on.
"Stuart was probably excited for scoring the try and it's not like him," said Townsend. "We had a number of other occasions close to the try line - whether it was the ball-carrier presenting the ball better, 50-50 decisions from the referee that didn't go our way, or ourselves not getting speed to contact. They were as important as that incident.
"Stuart should flush that and move on because he was outstanding today and has been a very good leader the last two weeks."
Townsend singled out Edinburgh prop Rory Sutherland, who impressed on his first Test appearance since 2016, and debutant No.8 Nick Haining, for praise after dynamic shifts.
He also revealed several of the squad had fallen unwell in the lead-up to the match, with prop Simon Berghan a late withdrawal on Saturday.
"For Rory to be out of Test rugby for nearly four years, to not have played many Edinburgh games this year, and play with that technical abi
