Hogg: "We're concentrating on what happens within the four walls of our changing room and making sure we are focused and ready"
Friday 7 February 2020 15:25, UK
Stuart Hogg has refused to get embroiled in a war of words with England, with the Scotland skipper insisting he is not interested in Eddie Jones' mind games.
Jones kicked off the verbal skirmishes ahead of Saturday's Calcutta Cup showdown earlier this week when he claimed Gregor Townsend's outfit were a "niggly" team who look to "goad" opponents.
Northampton flanker Lewis Ludlam ramped up the rhetoric when he promised Scotland a "war" fuelled by hatred on both sides, but Hogg refused to get involved in a verbal spat.
Hogg said: "My job is to make sure I'm concentrating on getting my performance spot on but also making sure the team is switched on and we're here for the right reasons, not listening to what others have got to say.
"We're concentrating on what happens within the four walls of our changing room and making sure we are focused and ready.
"I think I've made it pretty clear I've got a lot of respect for England. I've been fortunate enough to play with a few of their boys on Lions tours and they're world class. We want an opportunity to turn them over.
"I fully believe in our team, that we can do that and we'll do everything in our power. But they're a world-class team with world-class individuals we're going to have to shut down."
Scotland have not held the Calcutta Cup for three years on the spin since 1972 but that is the aim this weekend as they look to build on their 2018 victory and last year's 38-38 thriller at Twickenham.
Victory would only enhance what is set to be a special moment for Hogg as he prepares to lead out his nation at home for the first time.
The new skipper added: "I have loads of different memories of Scotland-England games, of course the most obvious one being 2018.
"I've been involved in a few Calcutta Cup matches now and come out on the wrong end a few times. But 2018 was definitely a highlight. Here's hoping tomorrow we can emulate that.
"It's a huge honour to be given this opportunity to lead but for me now it's all about doing my job on the field and making sure we do everything we can to get a result.
"If we nail our detail in attack and defence we can turn over England.
"On our day we can beat anyone. You saw that with England here a couple of years ago."
It was not the Scots' day last week in Dublin, however, as they missed a series of golden opportunities to put Ireland under pressure - none more glaring than Hogg's own goal-line fumble.
It was the latest instalment in a long history of brave defeats for Scotland and Hogg admits if he has one ambition while leading out his country, it is to rid them of their reputation for being plucky losers.
"Last week we were bitterly disappointed with the final outcome," he said.
"There were some good aspects to our game. We really took it to Ireland in attack and fronted up in defence. Something that has let us down the last couple of years.
"We're gutted with the fact that we could have potentially won that game last week.
"The tag that we've been given really hurts the players but we need to be in a position to win Test matches before that goes. We get another opportunity tomorrow to make sure that's gone.
"There's a Calcutta Cup to play for and that's all we're concentrating on.
"We can't stand back and admire England for too long. They've got some cracking individual players and are a quality side.
"They weren't in a World Cup final for nothing. They are a world-class team and it's going to take us to be at our best for the full 80 minutes to come away with the result we want.
"But we're fully aware of that. That's a huge exciting challenge for us - but we're ready."
