The 19-year-old tipped to become Scottish rugby's next superstar has revealed that his twinkling footwork and electrifying speed are all in the genes because he is related to George Best.
Stuart Hogg will become the first teenager to start a Test for Scotland in 40 years when he lines up at full-back against France in the RBS 6 Nations Championship and yesterday he explained how his performance against Wales combined with his father's interest in his roots had produced the link with the Irish footballing genius.
"After the game against Wales a distant relative read something about me in an Irish paper and sent a copy of it to my dad's cousin in Hawick," he said.
"My dad's mum and dad died young and he always wanted to know more about his family history and he found out from this lady in Northern Ireland that he's actually related to George Best, he was in tears on the phone when he found out.
"They've still to research it fully, but I think it turns out my gran's gran was a Best. It's pretty amazing that Dad's wanted to know about his family for so long and it turns out like this. Hopefully, we can meet up with the people soon."
Hogg's family are not alone in hoping he can live up to the sporting achievements of his distant relative since the Scottish rugby community is hoping he is the missing link when it comes to turning the team's hard work into the tries that will help earn wins.
He should have been awarded a debut try against Wales last week and received an apology from the referee for getting that decision wrong. "The referee spoke to me after the match and apologised for what he had done and said that maybe next time he would go to the [replay judge]. I respect him for saying that, but it was a bit too late as far as I was concerned," Hogg said.
Like the score Greig Laidlaw claimed four minutes later, it would probably have brought little more than consolation to a Scotland side that trailed by 21 points with only a quarter of the game left and he knows the challenge now is not just to play but to win.
"It is great to go down in the history books and good to get a start but now that I have I have to go out and perform along with the 14 other boys on the pitch at the same time," said Hogg. "It is a massive challenge this weekend but one that not only myself but all the boys can fulfil."
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