{"id":168996,"date":"2025-06-09T01:16:07","date_gmt":"2025-06-09T01:16:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/168996\/"},"modified":"2025-06-09T01:16:07","modified_gmt":"2025-06-09T01:16:07","slug":"stuart-hoggs-british-irish-lions-comeback-dream-crushed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/168996\/","title":{"rendered":"Stuart Hogg\u2019s British &#038; Irish Lions comeback dream crushed"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Stuart Hogg\u2019s fairytale return to rugby has suffered a brutal twist, with the Scotland centurion ruled out for up to nine months after rupturing his Achilles tendon in Montpellier\u2019s gritty 19-13 win over Perpignan in late April<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The 32-year-old limped off in the 54th minute after a clumsy tackle from Perpignan winger Tavite Veredamu while fielding a high ball, ending any chance of an international call up this summer. <\/p>\n<p>Hogg had already racked up 11 points in the match, continuing his electric form since making a shock comeback earlier this season.<\/p>\n<p>According to reports in France, the former British &amp; Irish Lion has already gone under the knife, bringing a premature end to his Top 14 campaign\u2014and potentially sidelining him for the start of next season too.<\/p>\n<p>Join the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/bit.ly\/3s8fWrj\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>RUCK\u2019s WhatsApp community here<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0and get the latest news sent straight to your messages.<\/p>\n<p>Montpellier magician<\/p>\n<p>After reversing his retirement just a year after hanging up his boots before the 2023 Rugby World Cup, Hogg signed a long-term deal with Montpellier through to 2027.<\/p>\n<p>The Scottish superstar quickly became a fan favourite in the south of France, clocking up 16 appearances and 112 points. <\/p>\n<p>Often used at fly-half\u2014his old schoolboy position\u2014Hogg has been a key figure in Montpellier\u2019s resurgence, helping lift the side from the relegation scrap to a respectable eighth-place finish.<\/p>\n<p>RUCK\u2019s Verdict<\/p>\n<p>This latest setback will be gutting for Hogg, who had found joy and form in France after a turbulent end to his Test career. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Website\u00a0Brutally Ranked The Worst Lions Players Of All-Time<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>This compilation, put together by Pundit Arena in 2022, highlights individuals who may have been victims of misfortune rather than lacking in skill, while others arguably had no business being included in the British &amp; Irish Lions squad.<\/p>\n<p>Keep scrolling to discover who made it onto the list of the least impressive Lions players.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Pundit Arena\u2019s WORST LIONS PLAYERS:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>5 \u2013 <\/strong>Stuart Hogg<\/p>\n<p><strong>PA:<\/strong> \u201c<strong>\u00a0<\/strong>2013 and 2017 went badly for the Scot. The Lions stuck by Hogg for the second Test in 2021 but was shaky under the high-ball and had no chance to shine in attack<strong>\u00a0<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>RUCK:<\/strong> Just doesn\u2019t seem to work out for Hoggy in the Lions with the harder he tries the tougher it gets<\/p>\n<p><strong>VERDICT:<\/strong> Justified<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"L2QN8TovTAlJtqzbTELHyQ\" class=\"gie-single\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/1326812502\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"color:#a7a7a7;text-decoration:none;font-weight:normal !important;border:none;display:inline-block;\" rel=\"noopener\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ruck.co.uk\/stuart-hoggs-british-irish-lions-comeback-dream-crushed\/2\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">CONTINUES ON PAGE TWO<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Like this:<\/p>\n<p>Like Loading&#8230;<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"sd-link-color\"\/>\t\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Stuart Hogg\u2019s fairytale return to rugby has suffered a brutal twist, with the Scotland centurion ruled out for&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":168997,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4102],"tags":[4151,79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-168996","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-rugby","8":"tag-rugby","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114650767891935334","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/168996","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=168996"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/168996\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/168997"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=168996"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=168996"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=168996"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}