​Ex-Scotland rugby captain Stuart Hogg marks return to action after 16 months out by scoring try for Montpellier

Montpellier Herault full-back Stuart Hogg on the ball against Lyon on Saturday (Photo by Pascal Guyot/AFP via Getty Images)Montpellier Herault full-back Stuart Hogg on the ball against Lyon on Saturday (Photo by Pascal Guyot/AFP via Getty Images)
Montpellier Herault full-back Stuart Hogg on the ball against Lyon on Saturday (Photo by Pascal Guyot/AFP via Getty Images)
​Former Scotland captain Stuart Hogg marked his return to rugby after 16 months out of the game by scoring a try for Montpellier Herault at home to Lyon on Saturday.

Replacement outside-centre ​Arthur Vincent and blindside flanker Lenni Nouchi also touched down for the Borderer’s new team, with scrum-half Leo Coly adding two conversions and a penalty, but it wasn’t enough to get their new French Top 14 season off to a winning start as they were edged out 26-22.

Full-back Hogg, 32, played all 80 minutes of his first game since being brought on as a substitute by previous club Exeter Chiefs during a 47-28 loss away to La Rochelle at the end of last April.

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Hawick’s Hogg has been signed on a two-year contract as injury cover for French international Anthony Bouthier, currently out of action with a ruptured cruciate ligament.

His new head coach, Joan Caudullo, was impressed by 100-times capped Hogg’s first appearance for Montpellier, saying: “He’s an international-level player even though he hasn’t played for Scotland for a long time.

“He’s got something extra. We see a kid who puts a lot of energy into the group.

“He leads the line well, he communicates a lot, he’s listened to.

“We’re going to rely on him to move forward.”

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Montpellier’s next game is away to Perpignan this coming Saturday, with kick-off at 3.30pm.

Hogg was back in the Borders this week to stand trial at Jedburgh Sheriff Court on Tuesday, accused of engaging in a course of conduct causing estranged wife Gillian fear and alarm over a seven-year period, but that case was put on hold until November following further charges of stalking and breaching bail being filed against him.

He denies all three new allegations, as well as the prior charges against him.

A preliminary hearing is now lined up at Jedburgh on Friday, October 4, followed by an intermediate diet there on Monday, October 21 and a three-day trial at Selkirk Sheriff Court starting on Monday, November 4.

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Hogg has been granted continued bail in the interim, leaving him free to continue playing in France.

His current employers are only his third professional club after stints with Glasgow Warriors from 2010 to 2019 and Exeter from 2019 to 2023.

Hogg – also previously with Hawick, Ayr and Stirling County – is Scotland’s fourth most-capped player of all time, his century of international appearances to date having been outdone only by Kelso’s Ross Ford with 110, Gala’s Chris Paterson with 109 and Sean Lamont with 105.

He’s also skippered his country more often than anyone else except for Jedburgh’s Greig Laidlaw and Buckinghamshire-born David Sole, having worn the captain’s armband 22 times to Laidlaw’s 40 and Sole’s 25.

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