MHR: Charged again this Monday, Stuart Hogg will be available next week with Montpellier

Stuart Hogg will not be in the game against Perpignan this Saturday, September 14. Midi Libre – SYLVIE CAMBON

Returned home at the beginning of the week to be tried by the Scottish courts but arrested again, Stuart Hogg was not at MHR training this Thursday, September 12. He will not be available against Perpignan this Saturday.

No Stuart Hogg at the GGL Stadium this Thursday morning. The 32-year-old Scottish full-back, who has won 100 caps, returned home earlier this week. He was due to appear in court on September 10 for domestic harassment after a complaint from his ex-wife and mother of his four children.

Except that on Monday, September 9, tonight, he was spending the night… in a cell. The former Thistle star was charged with harassment and breaching bail conditions. He went to his ex-wife's home to see his children, which the deportation order strictly forbids him from doing.

This is his third arrest this year, each time for the same offences.

Available from next Monday

And like the two previous times, Stuart Hogg was released on bail. His trial has been postponed to November 4, 5 and 8, with intermediate hearings on October 4 and 21, as specified by L'Équipe.

The question this week was whether he was available for the match against Perpignan this Saturday, September 14 (4:30 p.m., in Béziers). “Stuart will not be here this weekend, he will be available from Monday”, Montpellier manager Joan Caudullo soberly explained. A participation against Toulouse on September 21st is therefore more than likely.

“A monstrous waste of energy”

Seventeen months after his last match at the top level and fifteen months after announcing his professional retirement, Hogg was recruited by Montpellier this summer. A daring bet, "inflated" some say, in view of the recent affairs and his absence from the field for so long.

However, beyond this judicial and personal context, the performance he offered against Lyon (22-26) has taken more than one person by surprise. “As soon as he has the ball, something happens”, admitted scrum-half Léo Coly.

“Given his absence at the beginning of the week, I was able to say things about him. His career is behind him, even if, obviously, I hope he will still do good things with it. He has an energy output that is monstrous. I would like all my players to have the same thing. We voted for the man of the match all together, and Stuart stood out. For me, that's not normal, for a guy who hasn't played for a year and a half…", the manager, Caudullo, assured afterwards.