Stuart Hogg can use the RBS Player of the Championship award as a springboard to further success, according to former Scotland star Al Kellock.
Hogg beat out the rest of a 12-man shortlist – including Grand Slam winners Billy Vunipola and Jack Nowell, Wales star George North and Italy captain Sergio Parisse – in a public vote for the award after a string of sterling displays during the 2016 RBS 6 Nations.
He became the first Scot to win the award and follows in the footsteps of legends of the game such as Brian O’Driscoll, Shane Williams and Paul O’Connell.
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The full-back made 379m during the Championship, at an impressive average of 75.8m per game, while he finished joint-fourth overall for defenders beaten with 17.
His performances helped Scotland record wins over France and Italy as they finished fourth in the final reckoning, while he also scored one of the tries of the Championship by running 55 metres over the whitewash against Ireland. The 23-year-old is now back on club duty with Glasgow Warriors and continued his good form by notching a try and a long-range penalty in the crucial 27-17 win over Ulster last weekend.
Like most onlookers, former Scotland lock Kellock – who won 56 caps during his playing career, the last of which came in 2013 – can’t help but be impressed by Hogg.
And such is Hogg’s midas touch currently that Kellock insists he never had any doubt that the long-range penalty against Ulster would sail through the posts.
“I was standing next to Henry Pyrgos when he lined up that 55-metre penalty and I said ‘he’s got this’. He just has this golden touch at the moment,” Kellock told the Scotsman.
“I spoke to Stuart about it [winning RBS Player of the Championship] and said ‘look at the players who have won it before you and what they went on to achieve in their careers’.
“Also the guys he was listed with as a nominee this year, including Grand Slam winners. The consistency he had over the whole tournament was great.
“It’s not easy to be as good as he was in every game. What’s often not talked about as much is his huge work-rate. To chase back and put in above-and-beyond effort. For me, that underpinned the award.”