Glasgow Warriors finally confirmed yesterday that Stuart Hogg has suffered a major ankle injury and will be out for even longer than was feared when it emerged earlier this week that he would have to undergo surgery.

The Scotland and British & Irish Lions full-back naturally admitted to deep disappointment, saying: “I’m gutted to be missing some important games... My focus just now is working hard and getting fit, so I can play my part in what is a long season.

The problem was initially considered so innocuous that he stayed on the pitch for more than an hour’s playing time after initially suffering the injury and was then allowed to fly with the squad to South Africa for their two-week tour, only to be sent home early when it became obvious that he could neither train nor play.

However, head coach Dave Rennie has defended the decision-making throughout.

“It normally takes about five days to get an accurate assessment around the ankles and for the swelling to go. Day five there was a bit of pain, and then the medics were saying we had to send him home. The length of time is disappointing, but it is what it is.

“What often happens with soft tissue injuries is that when you are hot you feel fine and you can get through things. So, he was a bit uncomfortable initially, but you can see how well he played, so we have no issues around that. Often when you have an injury the medics will make a decision immediately. If they’re no good, they’re off immediately. Sometimes it’s a red light but sometimes it’s orange, we’re going to monitor them for a couple of minutes and see how they do. That’s how it was with Hoggy, he reported down that he was feeling a lot better. We’ve got no issues with that and it had no effect on the recovery time.”

As he did last weekend and frequently last season, fellow international Ruaridh Jackson deputises with Rennie describing the former play-maker as having “had a sensational season for us last year, one of our best,” and stating that they are consequently “in safe hands back there.”

The back three is consequently the same as faced the Cheetahs, but the back line is otherwise completely changed, Huw Jones making his first start of the season alongside the returning Nick Grigg in midfield, Peter Horne shifting infield to stand off and Wallaby Nick Frisby becoming the third different internationalist to start at scrum-half for Glasgow in successive matches.

It is pretty much all change in the pack as well, Rennie explaining that a desire to start Jamie Bhatti in this match and the form shown by fellow international prop Alex Allan had meant they were relaxed about giving Oli Kebble extra time to recover from a head knock, while George Turner, D’Arcy Rae, Greg Petersen and Chris Fusaro are all given the chance to start.

The coach meanwhile expressed some puzzlement at the attention paid to the interest shown in lock Brian Alainu’uese by Toulon, indicating that his fellow Kiwi has much to prove having hardly played in the past year.

“It’s interesting a little has been made out of this because players are constantly re-signing or talking about opportunity beyond this season so with Brian, he’s been pretty much injured for a big chunk of 14 months,” he observed. “We’ve spoken and said we’re unsure whether we’ll re-sign him, he’d need to come back and play a big string and convince us we’d get out pound of flesh out of him. So, he’s looking at opportunities beyond this year and it could be with us or it could be with Toulon. Players are constantly trying to get clarity around their future. If it’s not clear where they are they can look at other opportunities elsewhere.”

He admitted, however, that a mid-season move was a possibility and that Glasgow could be in line for a transfer fee if he departs before the end of his contract.

“These things can happen, but what I’m looking at is what’s best for us,” said Rennie. “We just want to get him back on the field playing. We can’t commit to him and a number of other guys until we get them on the park and see them playing. Some guys may not be prepared to wait that long, because it’s their future and they want to have a plan for next year. Brian’s in that situation.”

Southern Kings: B Masixole; P Yaw, K Harlon, K Berton, B Bjorn; D Martin, R van Royen; S Ferreira, M Willemse, L Pupuma, B Du Wee, J-C Astle, H Brown, A Ntsila, R Lerm. Replacements – A Van Rooyen, J Forwood, M Dreyer, S Greeff, CJ Velleman, G Masimla, N Dukisa, M Botha

Glasgow: R Jackson; T Seymour, H Jones, N Grigg, DTH van der Merwe; P Horne, N Frisby; J Bhatti, G Turner, D Rae, G Peterson, S Cummings, R Wilson, Chris Fusaro, A Ashe. Replacements - F Brown, A Allan, K Bryce, R Harley, C Gibbins, A Price, A Hastings, R Nairn