Where are they now? Scotland’s XV on Stuart Hogg’s debut in 2012
Stuart Hogg on his debut against Wales in the Six Nations way back in 2012
Credit: Getty Images
All good things must come to an end. When Stuart Hogg announced back in March he would retire at the end of the 2023 Rugby World Cup, the fullback said he wanted to “finish at the top end of his game”.
The 31-year-old Scotland and Exeter flyer, who won his 100th cap during the 2023 Six Nations, also has three British and Irish Lions tours under his belt.
But way back in February 2012, fresh-faced Hogg replaced Max Evans in the sixteenth minute of their Six Nations clash in Cardiff.
99 games later, he sits fourth on the list of Scotland’s all-time cap holders and could go past or match Sean Lamont at the World Cup later this year - who is on 105.
The Flanker has taken a look back at the Scottish side that lost 27-13 as Leigh Halfpenny helped himself to two tries and 12 points from the tee.
15 - Rory Lamont
A versatile back, Rory appeared alongside elder brother Sean a number of times and lined up at fullback ahead of Hogg in this game. He counts Sale Sharks, Toulon and Glasgow Warriors among the club sides he turned out for.
Lamont gained 29 caps for Scotland before announcing his retirement from professional rugby in April 2013 aged 30. He cited his inability to recover fully from the broken leg he had suffered against France the previous year.
Post-retirement, he has spoken out about the mental health issues he has suffered after battling suicidal thoughts and depression.
Speaking to Progressive Rugby, he said: “When I was in that dark place, I would have given all my money and all my caps to get my health back. You truly don’t realise the value of your health until you lose it.”
According to LinkedIn, Lamont is now a Health and Wellness Coach after graduating from The University of Northampton in 2005.
14 - Lee Jones
Youngster Jones was only earning his second cap in this game after making his international debut against England the week before.
The former Selkirk High School pupil was capped ten times for Scotland’s between 2012 and 2017, starting off his rugby career as a winger at his hometown team before a move to Edinburgh in 2010.
In the shorter format of the game for Scotland 7s, he also featured in 31 World Rugby Sevens Series events and four Commonwealth Games before calling it quits at 34 last year.
A pacy and deceptively strong winger who would always look for contact, according to LinkedIn and Twitter Jones is now a software developer after retiring from the game.
13 - Nick De Luca
De Luca earned 43 caps for Scotland and recently announced he would become Director of Sport at Merchiston Castle School, the only independent all-boys boarding school in Scotland.
Turning out for club sides such as Border Reivers, Edinburgh, Biarritz and Wasps during a career spanning 12 years, he has been a mental health campaigner in recent years.
During that game back in 2012, the Dumfries-born player was sent to the bin on the 45th-minute mark as Scotland fell to defeat.
He also appeared at the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand with the silky centre combining very good playmaking attributes and an elusive running style with stepping ability.
12 - Sean Lamont
Perhaps more used to being deployed on the wing, the elder Lamont was at inside centre against Wales and sits third on Scotland's all-time cap holders.
Starting his professional career at Rotherham Titans, while attending Sheffield Hallam University, the 6ft2 back pouched 35 tries for his country during a glittering career.
Moving to Northampton Saints in 2005, he once scored four tries in one game against Saracens. Lamont was the first Saints player to achieve this since another Scot, Craig Moir, in 1996.
A veteran of three World Cups in 2007, 2011 and 2015, he also counts Llanelli Scarlets and Glasgow Warriors among his club sides.
Following retirement, he became a Strength and Conditioning Coach - firstly with the Glasgow and West Academies, then the Scotland 7s side before moving into the Great Britain 7s setup in October 2022.
11 - Max Evans
Part of another set of brothers to represent Scotland, alongside Thom, Max Evans was the man Hogg replaced that day in Cardiff eleven years ago after he was forced off early with injury.
Evans earned 44 caps for Scotland in a career that saw him turn out for Glasgow Warriors and Castres in the club game.
In November 2017, Evans was revealed as one of the contestants who would take part in the tenth series of Dancing on Ice - finishing a creditable third.
Interestingly, the former back is a fully-qualified PGA professional and was playing in Portugal from 2004–06 while recovering from a back injury.
According to his Instagram, today he appears to be based in Portugal with his partner and young family.
10 - Greig Laidlaw
Quite simply a modern Scotland rugby legend. From his debut in 2010 to retirement nine years later, Laidlaw captained Scotland 39 times – in more than half of his 76 caps.
A superb goalkicker and tactical number 9, Greig is the nephew of former Scotland scrum-half Roy Laidlaw. In this game back in 2012, he scored a try, a conversion and two penalties.
In 2015, Laidlaw led Scotland to a World Cup quarter-final in England and earned himself a nomination for the World Player of the Year award.
The scrumhalf helped Scotland to their 25-13 Calcutta Cup win at Murrayfield in 2018 along with featuring in a Top 14 Final and winning the European Challenge Cup - both with Clermont.
Back in April, Laidlaw announced he would retire from the game and move into coaching. Urayasu D-Rocks, the Japanese club he plays for, will the last for the 37-year-old along with Edinburgh, Gloucester and Clermont Auvergne.
9 - Chris Cusiter
Not a bad halfback pairing is it? In the club game, he played for teams including Glasgow Warriors, Border Reivers and Perpignan before ending his career at Sale Sharks.
Internationally, Cusiter claimed 70 caps while tussling with Mike Blair for most of his career for the starting berth. He was even made joint-captain alongside his rival for the Autumn internationals of 2009 and the 2010 Six Nations Championship
Cusiter made his first start for Scotland way back in the 2004 Six Nations match against Wales, named in the British and Irish Lions touring party to New Zealand a year later.
A fearless number 9 who played the game at a quick tempo, he moved to California following his retirement to set up a whisky business - still being CEO of Alexander Murray & Co according to LinkedIn.
8 - David Denton
David Denton on the charge against Samoa at the 2015 Rugby World Cup
Credit: Andy Commins/Daily Mirror
An extremely physical ball carrier, Denton was originally from Zimbabwe and qualified for Scotland as his mother was born in Glasgow. He moved to study economics at the University of Edinburgh before being awarded a professional contract with Edinburgh Rugby in 2010.
His performances in his debut season lead him to be selected for Scotland's extended 2011 Rugby World Cup squad, making his first appearance just before the tournament in a warm-up game against Ireland.
Denton was the 13th winner of the brilliantly named Sir Willie Purves Quaich award in 2012, given to the "most outstanding young male Scottish player" of that season.
After also turning out for Bath, Worcester Warriors and Leicester Tigers, the back-rower was forced to retire from concussion issues in 2019. He is now EMEA Client Strategy-Partnerships for global investment management firm BlackRock, based in the USA.
7 - Ross Rennie
A sad and cautionary tale, Rennie was also forced into early retirement at the tender age of 28 while at Bristol. The breakdown scavenging flanker, who won 20 caps, hadn’t played for four months previously after seeking advice about a neurological problem.
Rennie progressed through the Edinburgh academy before making his debut for the senior side against the Ospreys in the Magners League in September 2006 - later being voted players' player of the year for 2007/08.
According to LinkedIn, he is a Property Manager with Le Chardon Mountain Lodges. The hospitality firm is based at the popular ski resort of Val d'Isere.
6 - Alasdair Strokosch
The superbly named Strokosch finished his career in France in the Pro D2 for USA Perpignan. Before that, he previously played for Gloucester in the Aviva Premiership and Edinburgh in the Pro12.
Strokosch has represented Scotland at all age-grade levels as well as Sevens and 'A' level before his full national team debut. He earned 47 caps in the famous blue jersey and was at two World Cups in 2011 and 2015.
He later fell down the pecking order for Gloucester and struggled to retain his place in the Scotland set up with John Beattie, Kelly Brown and John Barclay forming a strong back-row.
Interestingly, at the age of 12 he became a black belt in karate - later representing Scotland at the European and world Under-21 karate championships. He is now Scotland U20 Lead Strength and Conditioning Coach.
5 - Jim Hamilton
Known affectionately as “Big Jim” he is arguably more recognisable now he has retired than when he was playing thanks to a burgeoning media career.
He hosts “The Big Jim Show” and features alongside good friend Andy Goode on the extremely popular “The Rugby Pod”. Hamilton also owns men’s grooming products company Maul & Brawl.
Before all that, he wasn’t a bad player either. Debuting for Scotland back in 2006, he gained 63 caps for the national team despite tough competition in the form of Alastair Kellock and Nathan Hines among others.
A canny lineout operator and workhorse, at club level he featured for Leicester Tigers, Edinburgh, Gloucester, Montpellier and Saracens.
4 - Richie Gray
Still getting games for Glasgow Warriors and Scotland, Gray stands at an enormous 6ft10 and boasts a glittering club career seeing him play for Sale Sharks, Castres and Toulouse, with whom he won the Top14 title in 2019.
Along with younger sibling Jonny, Gray is part of the 21st set of brothers to play together for Scotland – his international debut coming against France in 2010.
British and Irish Lions honours have followed as he was a key man in the 2013 touring party that was victorious in Australia. Gray is notorious in his young years for long, blonde peroxide locks that would sway here there and everywhere as he went on the charge like a rampaging giraffe.
After four years in France, he has recently returned to the international fold and was part of the 2023 Six Nations squad that helped Scotland to third place in the table.
3 - Geoff Cross
The burly front rower won 40 caps between 2009 and 2014 but endured a torrid debut against Wales. It ended prematurely when he was sin-binned for a tackle in the air on fullback Lee Byrne and was carried off with a bad head injury.
A strong scrummager, Cross is perhaps the only player in this list that has a Wikipedia entry that focuses entirely on his enormous beard.
It says that during 2014 and 2015, Cross grew a “beard of epic magnitude” and was encouraged to cultivate it during a loan spell at Glasgow Warriors by team-mate and “similarly bearded wonder” Josh Strauss.
The massive prop's face was eventually shaved by London Irish teammates on the last day of March 2015, having raised over £10,000 for the Wooden Spoon charity. A qualified doctor, he retired in 2016 to focus on his medical career.
2 - Ross Ford
Scotland’s highest-ever appearance maker and a fantastic modern hooker who was a threat all across the pitch in every facet. Ford played at flanker during his age grade years, converting to hooker once at Border Reivers.
He made his debut way back in 2004 against Australia, the first of 110 caps for his country that same him named as captain later in his career. He also racked up almost 300 professional club games for Border Reivers and Edinburgh.
Ford is also a British and Irish Lion after going on the 2009 tour, alongside being a stalwart of three Rugby World Cups in 2007, 2011 and 2015. After reitring in 2019, he took a role as a Strength and Conditioning coach at the Scottish Rugby Academy.
1 - Allan Jacbosen
Perhaps one of the most loved figures in Scottish rugby during the 2010’s, “Chunk” earned 65 caps as a loosehead prop after making his international debut against Canada in 2002 - being forced to wait 15 months for his next appearance against Ireland.
He was called out to the Rugby World Cup in Australia as a replacement in 2003 but did not make an appearance, working hard to establish his place in the Scotland setup.
A mobile ball player despite his large frame, he was dogged by injuries throughout his career but still managed to put together an impressive run of appearances starting in 2008.
He was in the front row for all of Scotland's games during the 2008 Six Nations, including their Calcutta Cup victory over England at Murrayfield. Jacobsen also started all three of Scotland's autumn internationals against New Zealand, South Africa and Canada.
His consecutive appearances ran into the following year's Six Nations as he started against France, Wales and Italy. Shortly after he announced his retirement in 2013, Edinburgh Rugby announced it would create a new trophy, fashioned from a mould of Jacobsen's cauliflower right ear, for the club's "most dedicated" player.
