Stuart Hogg was a world class Scottish rugby player who now has to relocate his moral compass | Robert Kitson
Share:
The former national rugby union captain has been spared jail for the domestic abuse of his estranged wife, Gill, after courts painted a grim picture of his off-pitch behaviour. Scotland has not always been blessed with rugby players of genuine world class but prime-time Stuart Hogg was a rare exception. At the height of his powers he was the Six Nations Player of the Year in successive seasons in 2016 and 2017, mixing acceleration and attacking intent with a just-try-and-stop-me attitude that set him apart from the average workaday pro.
![[Robert Kitson]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/uploads/2017/10/09/Robert-Kitson,-L.png?width=180&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
The talented lad from Hawick was a big fish in a series of smallish pools – the Borders, Scottish rugby, Exeter – and grew accustomed to being hailed as king of his local oval-ball castle. While, behind closed doors, not being entirely the man his many fans thought him to be.
![[Stuart Hogg of Scotland is challenged by Tadhg Furlong of Ireland in 2023]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/6b50f694c58f1028d4671e8429f2a0b998a3e155/0_142_4499_2699/master/4499.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
When he pleaded guilty to a domestic abuse charge in early November – for which he has now been sentenced and spared jail – the court reports painted a grim picture of a controlling husband who was frequently a nightmare when drunk. Prosecutors recounted instances of him returning home and shouting and swearing at his now-estranged wife, Gill, then complaining about her “not being fun” for choosing to hide upstairs with their children.
Bombarding her with 200 texts in a few hours, causing her to have a panic attack and tracking her whereabouts via a phone app also suggested an obsessive streak and, potentially, a man adrift on the turbulent ocean of his own inflated ego. It culminated in a spell at a rehabilitation centre in April and a subsequent reflective post on Instagram. “I was lost, needed help, direction, time away from the spotlight to be able to take a deep breath and think,” wrote Hogg.
