“It’s almost a guarantee that one of the northern hemisphere teams, in the autumn, will knock over the Saffas.”
Stuart Hogg was not the only British & Irish Lions player that left South Africa convinced that the tourists had the weapons to beat the world champions.
As we all know now, that did not happen. The Lions went into a 1-0 lead but lost the final two Tests to head back home with a plane-full of maybes and what-could-have-been chats.
The Springboks are set to tour Europe later this year and Hogg feels the team to beat them will be one that opens up and plays attacking rugby against them. “They’re hugely physical, they’ve got an aerial threat and their defence shut us down massively,” he said, “but, at times, when we chucked it wide or took a high risk, we were getting better outcomes.”
On the latest House of Rugby Lions Series episode [LISTEN from 5:30 below], Hogg joined Seán O’Brien, Adam Jones and Alex Goode, and provided a great insight into some of his stand-out Lions teammates.
Owen Farrell and Stuart Hogg were both on their third Lions tours. (Credit: Sportsfile)O’Brien and Jones both ran Stuart Hogg through a teammates quiz, and got some surprising answers. Jamie George and Owen Farrell both come out smelling of roses, while Conor Murray was left smelling of high-end beautification products and colognes.
NEW BEST MATE?
Owen Farrell.
MOST ANNOYING?
Finn Russell, because he kept playing French music… It gave so much energy to the [Lions] boys in camp, and they were absolutely loving it. but the Scottish boys have had it for the past two years. He’s half-man, half-speaker, too!
WHAT PLAYER SURPRISED YOU MOST?
That would probably be the reason I said Faz. I thought he was going to be intense the whole time. He’s one of them that when he’s on the training field, he’s intense and he knows what he wants out of it. But as soon as you finish training, he’s proper chilled out. I didn’t really get that vibe off him when I had seen him on the previous couple of tours, but I think that’s why we ended up bonding so well. He was proper chilled out.
WHAT PLAYERS LED THE CHARGE?
Josh Navidi and Chris Harris have been quality. Jamie George has been absolutely outstanding. We gave him the captain of the bin-juice honour for the last couple of weeks, and he just kept spirits high, especially when it did get tough and you weren’t playing in the big games.
MOST VAIN?
Conor Murray! I thought I had O.C.D (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) but, in reality, I just like to have things neat. I went into his room, and he’s got all his beauty products lined up, and I couldn’t believe it! I was like, ‘Mate, that’s not on’. The amount of products he had.
GRUMPIEST?
Mako Vunipola. Mako is Mako, though, isn’t he? He kepts spirits high, but he loves a sappucino every now and then!
WATCH HOUSE OF RUGBY’S LIONS SERIES: EPISODE 11
