Familiarity breeds respect for Hogg
Dec 1 2010 by Mark Smith, The Journal
IT WILL be friends reunited at Kingston Park on Friday, as Ally Hogg and Simon Taylor prepare to square up.
Hogg forms part of a Newcastle Falcons side looking for back-to-back home wins, with Taylor set to be among the Bath squad for the Aviva Premiership clash.
The pair shared six years together in the back row for Scotland and Edinburgh, with Hogg saying: “Simon’s a class act. He’s a big ball-carrying threat, and he’s famed for his dynamism around the park. We will have to try to stop him at source on Friday night, but he’s an abrasive presence and it will be an interesting challenge coming up against him if we both end up playing.”
Taylor boasts 66 caps worth of international experience to Hogg’s 48, but the 27-year-old Falcon still has youth on his side, being three-and-a-half years younger than his countryman.
“I’ve known Simon and played in the same teams as him for years, but we’ve never actually come up against each other in a competitive match,” said Hogg. “Even when he left for Stade Francais, and Edinburgh drew them in the Heineken Cup last year, it never worked out that we were on the field at the same time.”
Hogg was in the Edinburgh team when the two clubs met in Paris back in October 2009, with Taylor being sidelined, and it was the other way round in January of this year when Hogg was ruled out of the Murrayfield meeting and Taylor played.
Another familiar figure in Bath colours will be legendary Scotland and Lions coach, Sir Ian McGeechan, who this week had his title at the club changed to director of rugby. “He will bring a wealth of knowledge and experience for them,” said Hogg, who worked in the international set-up with the former test centre.
“It will be great to catch up with Simon and Geech after the game on Friday, but the main focus on our minds at the moment is just on getting the win.” Looking to atone for a disastrous second half which saw five tries conceded in a 44-19 defeat at Leicester, the Scot added: “It was massively disappointing. We played some good stuff in the first half hour to get 12-6 up, and I felt as if it was harsh of the referee to award a penalty try against us at the first five-metre scrum rather than go for the re-set.
“That meant we were one point down at half time, and then at the start of the second half we had a lapse in concentration and defensive discipline which was just totally unacceptable. We let it slip, and the most annoying aspect was that Leicester didn’t have to do anything special to score their tries.” Assessing Friday’s opponents, Hogg said: “They haven’t had a great run of results in the league, but when you look at the Bath squad there’s a lot of quality there. In addition to that they’ll have the likes of Lewis Moody, Matt Banahan and Shontayne Hape back this week from England duty, and that will give them a lot of added firepower.”
Having made nine appearances for the Falcons since his move south from Edinburgh, Hogg insisted: “I’m loving it here so far. I’m glad I made the switch, and there’s a lot of talent in this group here. It’s a young squad but we’re learning with every game, and when you consider where we were after the defeat at Sale on the opening day - I think we’ve come a long way as a side.
“We don’t perhaps have the experience just yet, and the kind of mistakes we’re making in games are the sort you would maybe associate with younger players. That will come in time though.
“The whole relegation concept is new to me because we never had that in the Magners League, but with Bath and Leeds at home in our next two league games we know it’s a massive opportunity to pull ourselves out of trouble.”
