Scottish Rugby were unaware Stuart Hogg was carrying out a campaign of domestic abuse against estranged wife Gillian while playing for his country — and did NOT relieve him of the captaincy as a result of his behaviour.
Mail Sport understands that the governing body did not know about issues between Hogg and his former partner in relation to the criminal charge brought against him, and only discovered details when the player was arrested in February. The full extent of those were revealed after Hogg pleaded guilty to domestic abuse in November.
The former Scotland and Lions full-back appeared on Thursday at Jedburgh Sheriff Court where he was fined and banned from contacting Mrs Hogg for five years.
Hogg, 32, had been due to be sentenced for the domestic abuse which took place between 2019 and 2024. That was deferred until January 9 for clarification on whether a community order with remotely monitored supervision can be imposed because he now lives in France, where he plays for Montpellier.
Gregor Townsend relieved Hogg of the Scotland captaincy ahead of the Autumn Test series in 2022. He appointed Jamie Ritchie instead, and said the decision was taken to ease the burden on Hogg and to allow him to be the best player he could be.
Hogg announced in March 2023 that he was going to retire from international rugby after that year’s World Cup, but retired before the tournament in July 2023, citing the strain on his body after years of playing at the top level.
Former Scotland captain Stuart Hogg leaves Jedburgh Sheriff Court on Thursday
Hogg in action for Scotland in a Six Nations clash with Ireland in 2023
Gregor Townsend relieved Hogg of Scotland captaincy to ease the burden on player
There was a flurry of speculation around his departure, with questions also being asked about the earlier loss of his captaincy and concerns about his behaviour off the park.
Mail Sport understands the decision to quit international rugby was entirely Hogg’s — with no pressure from Scottish Rugby — and the loss of the armband merely a ‘rugby decision’ based on performance.
On Thursday, Hogg received a five-year non-harassment order and was fined £600. Sheriff Peter Paterson warned him: ‘A non-harassment order is a serious matter and a breach of it could well result in a custodial sentence.’
Hogg had earlier admitted breaching bail conditions by repeatedly contacting his ex-partner in June.
It had been revealed that, over a five-year period up to August this year, he engaged in conduct which caused her ‘fear’ or ‘alarm’.
He admitted shouting and swearing, sending her messages which were alarming and distressing in nature, and tracking her movements through the Find My Phone app, after they had split up in 2023.
The former Glasgow Warriors and Exeter player berated Mrs Hogg for ‘not being fun’ after going on drinking binges with his colleagues, and, on one occasion, sent her more than 200 text messages in the space of a few hours.
Prosecutor Drew Long told the court that the couple had moved to Exeter in 2019 with their three young children, all aged under three, but Hogg’s ‘behaviour deteriorated’ as he went out partying.
Hogg would ‘shout and swear and accuse Mrs Hogg of not being fun’ for not joining in drinking, and her family ‘noticed a change in her’.
In 2022, Mrs Hogg went on a night out and was bombarded with text messages from her husband which ‘caught the attention of the people she was with’, the prosecutor said.
The following year, the couple moved to Hawick and Hogg used an app to track his wife and ‘questioned her whereabouts’ while she was dropping the children off, Mr Long told the court.
In 2023, Mrs Hogg decided to leave her husband and sought advice from a domestic abuse service.
The court heard that in September of that year, Hogg sent so many messages that it led Mrs Hogg to have a panic attack, and he ‘sent in excess of 200 texts in a few hours despite being asked to leave her alone’.
On February 21 this year, police were called due to Hogg ‘shouting and swearing’ and he was taken into custody and then placed on a bail order stipulating not to contact Mrs Hogg, or to enter the family home.
Angela Gray KC, representing the player, said he will remain in France until at least March next year, and is in the process of a divorce.
Sheriff Paterson said a report about Hogg mentioned the Caledonian Men’s Programme, a behaviour programme for men convicted of domestic abuse.
He said: ‘There is a difficulty with that, and that is that you are a non-resident of the UK.
‘So I will defer sentence until January 9 for clarification about whether I can impose a community order with supervision to be monitored remotely.’
Hogg, who was capped 100 times for Scotland, has already faced calls to be stripped of his MBE.
Scottish Conservative MSP Pam Gosal previously told Mail Sport that Hogg should ‘do the decent thing and hand back his MBE’.
She added: ‘If he refuses to do so, then I think stripping him of the award is something that should be considered.’
As it stands, honours can be withdrawn if a person is found guilty of a criminal offence, behaviour which results in censure by a regulatory or governing body, or any other behaviour which is deemed to bring the honours system into disrepute.
