Hogg out to reward fans’ faith against Wasps
The Kingston Park clash brings the Aviva Premiership regular season to a close and has a huge amount riding on it thanks to Hogg’s last-minute winner at Leicester Tigers on Friday.
The No 8 dotted down the clincher in a dramatic 25-23 triumph, Hogg and his men able to secure a first ever Premiership semi-final with victory over Wasps.
The Scot said: “We worked hard, it was a tough night in the set piece but we found a way. Niki Goneva was the best player on the pitch and deserved his two tries, so we’ll take the win and move on to a huge game at home to Wasps next Saturday.
“We’re all looking forward to that game, the boys are absolutely buzzing and it looks like we’ll have a big crowd in to really make it a big atmosphere. The lads really appreciate the support we’ve had all season, and I can’t think of a better way to reward our fans than by beating Wasps in front of a full Kingston Park.”
Asked about Friday’s match-winner from the fringes of a close-range ruck, Hogg said: “The pick-and-go isn’t normally my strong point but I just channelled my inner Bobby Vickers!
“I had to take one, it just fell my way and luckily I got over. I scored it the first time, realised the referee hadn’t blown his whistle so I scored it a second time. I don’t know why he didn’t blow the first time because it was clearly down, but all those years of hanging around with Bobby Vickers have finally paid off for me.
“The TMO delay was a bit of a killer but it did mean I got to celebrate twice. One of my good mates back home has just had a baby boy so I chucked in a bit of a celebration for him, and it was just pleasing to get the result.
“We probably didn’t play our best but in a way it doesn’t matter, because we dug it out when it mattered. We weren’t going to lose that game, we all believed it, even if some people on the outside maybe didn’t.”
Saturday’s game is officially a 10,100 sell-out. For those unable to get tickets it is being shown live on BT Sport.
