Ex-Scotland rugby captain Stuart Hogg hit by new injury blow just weeks into comeback from retirement after 16 months out

Montpellier Herault full-back Stuart Hogg being tackled by Toulouse winger Matthis Lebel last month (Photo by Pascal Guyot/AFP via Getty Images)Montpellier Herault full-back Stuart Hogg being tackled by Toulouse winger Matthis Lebel last month (Photo by Pascal Guyot/AFP via Getty Images)
Montpellier Herault full-back Stuart Hogg being tackled by Toulouse winger Matthis Lebel last month (Photo by Pascal Guyot/AFP via Getty Images)
Former Scotland rugby captain Stuart Hogg has been hit by a fresh injury blow just weeks after making his comeback at new club Montpellier Herault.

The Borderer missed part of the French Top 14 side’s pre-season schedule with a torn calf muscle and is now facing being sidelined for up to five weeks after sustaining a hand injury in his side’s 16-0 victory at home to fourth-placed La Rochelle on Saturday.

The Hawick 32-year-old, playing at fly-half rather than in his traditional full-back role due to injury issues elsewhere within Montpellier’s squad, supplied 11 of his team’s points against the two-time European champions at the GGL Stadium, kicking three penalties and a conversion, to help move them away from the relegation zone, lifting them up to 11th place, on 14 points from eight fixtures.

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The 100-times-capped Scotland international fractured his hand during the match but managed to play on until just over ten minutes ahead of full-time, being replaced by Thomas Vincent at that point.

He’s reported to have undergone surgery for his injury on Monday and is now expected to be out of action for over a month, though that time out includes a two-week international break.

Hogg will miss this coming Saturday’s match away to seventh-placed Castres and is also likely to be ruled out of his team’s next game after that, at home to Pau on Saturday, November 23.

He only came out of retirement in the summer after 16 months out of the game, making his comeback in a 26-22 loss at home to ninth-placed Lyon at the start of September and going on to start four of their following seven fixtures thus far this season.

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His try-scoring return to action versus Lyon was his first game since being brought on as a substitute by prior club Exeter Chiefs during a 47-28 loss away to La Rochelle at the end of April 2023.

Explaining Hogg’s switch from No 15 to No 10, Montpellier head coach Joan Caudullo said: “We have a difficulty in this position and Stuart, who is not a training ten, brings us a lot strategically.

“He no longer has his 20-year-old legs, which can be seen when he plays at full-back, but he has enormous qualities in animation, for diving into intervals and he communicates a lot.”

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