Retiral from rugby at 31 was ‘biggest mistake of my life’, says ex-Scotland captain Stuart Hogg
Former Scottish national rugby team captain Stuart Hogg now rates his decision to retire from the sport in July 2023 as the “biggest mistake of my life”.
The Hawick 33-year-old spent 16 months out of the game after playing for Devon’s Exeter Chiefs for the last time in April 2023 but changed his mind last year and signed a contract with Montpellier Herault running into 2027, making his debut for the French Top 14 side last September.
That return to action – accompanied by appearances at Selkirk and Jedburgh sheriff courts leading to being issued with a five-year non-harassment order and fined £600 in January for domestic abuse offences against ex-wife Gillian – was prompted by a charity cycle ride in memory of Borders rugby legend Doddie Weir in March last year alongside fellow ex-Scotland skipper Rob Wainwright and former Ireland centre Gordon D’Arcy, he says.
“I missed the buzz, the changing room, the banter,” Hogg, younger brother of current Hawick head coach Graham Hogg, reveals in an interview with the Rugby Paper.
“I missed rugby more than I ever realised.
“I gave up on my rugby career to try to save my marriage. At the time, I didn't know who I was.
“I was up to my eyeballs in antidepressants. I didn’t know what was going on in life, whether I was making people happy or sad.
“I used alcohol to escape. I was purely existing.
“The Doddie Aid cycle ride from Scotland to Rome changed everything. For the first time since retiring, I felt part of a team again. I came back and told my dad ‘I’ve made the biggest mistake of my life’.
“I’m in a better place mentally than I’ve been in years. I used to think being selfish was strength, but I took that too far. I hurt people.
“Now I’m learning to be selfless for the right reasons – for my kids, my partner, my team.”
Hogg accepts that, over a year on from his 100th and last Scotland appearance and four years since his third and final British and Irish Lions call-up, he’s no longer the player he used to be but reckons he’s still got plenty to offer, now playing at fly-half rather than full-back, saying: “I know I’ll never be the same Stuart Hogg I once was, but I’m OK with it.
“I’ve found peace. I’m living in the now.
“I feel better at 33 than I did at 28 or 29. I’m in the best shape I’ve been in for years, physically and mentally.”
The Borderer – formerly Scotland’s all-time leading try-scorer with 27 but since overtaken by fellow ex-Green Darcy Graham’s 31 and South African Duhan van der Merwe’s 32 – has been out of action since rupturing an Achilles tendon in April but says his rehabilitation is going according to plan sne he’s expected to make a comeback either later this year or early in 2026.