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New Scotland captain Stuart Hogg won't change his approach

BY Stephen Brunsdon  ·  Thursday Jan 16, 2020

Stuart Hogg says that his leadership role within the national team will not affect the way he plays after being announced as Scotland captain ahead of the 6 Nations.

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The full-back, who has won 72 caps for his country, will lead the Scots out against Ireland on the opening weekend and takes over the captaincy from hooker Stuart McInally.

Known for his adventurous counter-attacking as part of an increasingly potent Scottish back-line, Hogg says there is a fine balance between leadership and flair.

ā€œI feel very honoured to lead this team.

ā€œThereā€™s a time to bring passion and calmness when things are going well and when things arenā€™t going quite so well. Momentum shifts are massive in rugby.

ā€œYes, passion is important but thereā€™s a time and place. I want the players to be emotional about the games, have a sense of pride in putting on the jersey and use that in the right way so it comes out in how we defend and how we attack.

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ā€œWeā€™ve got a fantastic group of young players coming through and thereā€™s a lot of experience in there as well. Iā€™m really looking forward to it and taking on the challenges that are coming our way.”

Hogg’s experience will almost certainly come into play, particularly as key elements of Scotland’s World Cup squad announced their retirements before Christmas.

Former captains Greig Laidlaw and John Barclay as well as winger Tommy Seymour all called time on their international careers, and Hogg is keen to share the responsibility across the team.

ā€œWeā€™re a collective unit. Our motto of ā€˜As Oneā€™ is not just the team, itā€™s absolutely everything involved with Scottish rugby. We want the fans to look at us and be happy with what theyā€™re seeing and see a bit of them in the way weā€™re playing.”

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There are six uncapped players in Townsend’s 38-man training squad, including Gloucester second-row Alex Craig and Scotland Sevens star Kyle Steyn. Edinburgh’s Matt Scott receives a recall, as does team-mate Henry Pyrgos at scrum-half.

However, there is no room for Glasgow centre Nick Grigg, who gives way for the in-form-again Huw Jones.

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