Today's rugby news as shamed Stuart Hogg told to give back MBE and Wales star is 'world class'

These are your rugby headlines on the morning of Wednesday, November 6.

Hogg 'should give back MBE'

Disgraced Scotland rugby star Stuart Hogg is facing calls to hand back his MBE after pleading guilty to a domestic abuse charge.

Hogg admitted the crime in court on Monday after treating his estranged wife appallingly over a period of five years. The court heard he swore at Gillian Hogg, tracked her movements and sent her hundreds of unwanted messages. The ordeal left her fearful and feeling unsafe in her own home.

READ MORE:Anglo-Welsh league off the table for now in seismic blow for Welsh rugby

READ MORE:Ryan Reynolds' stunning net worth emerges as he makes big Welsh announcement

Now, Scottish Conservative MSP Pam Gosal, who has proposed a bill at Holyrood aimed at preventing domestic abuse, said: "After being convicted of such a serious offence, Stuart Hogg should do the decent thing and hand back his MBE.

"If he refuses to do so, then I think stripping him of the award is something that should be considered."

Hogg received the gong in this year’s New Year’s Honours for services to rugby union.

The Cabinet Office, which deals with the honours system, said it does not comment on individual awards. The Forfeiture Committee can act to remove an honour with the approval of the King.

Reasons for withdrawal "might include being found guilty of a criminal offence, behaviour which results in censure by a regulatory or a professional body, or any other behaviour that is deemed to bring the honours system into disrepute".

Anscombe: Williams is 'world class'

Gareth Anscombe has hailed Wales and Gloucester team-mate Tomos Williams for bringing "X factor" to his game, branding him "world class".

The pair linked up with the Cherry & Whites this summer and have been a revelation in the West Country. Williams especially has been superb, turning in man-of-the-match performances pretty much on a weekly basis.

They now come into a Wales camp that's nine games into a losing run, with the duo widely expected to start at nine and 10 against Fiji this Sunday.

Anscombe told The Telegraph he's got the fire back in his belly after such a rotten few years with injury.

“You can give up and move on and retire, or fight to get back, and I’ve always chosen the latter,” he said. “When you’ve been out for as long as I have and had so many setbacks, you figure out what drives you. When I signed to go to Japan, I don’t know if I was ready to say goodbye to the jersey, but I probably accepted that was the way my journey was going. So it’s strange how it all worked out, with me and Tommy at Gloucester.

“It feels like I was meant to be there. Tommy and I know each other so well and he has been outstanding. The way we play is pretty ambitious, we like to move the ball around and it’s allowed Tommy to use his X-factor. He is world class.

"It has re-energised me and so has the noise with The Shed and all that. One of the most exciting parts of joining Gloucester is just how well it’s supported, particularly when you’ve played regional rugby at the Ospreys and you’ve played in front of no one. It’s a proper rugby town and we can really turn it into a cauldron of fire again.”

Vegas could host Lions

The British & Irish Lions could play a match in Las Vegas ahead of their 2029 tour to New Zealand.

The BBC report that Sin City is one of several US cities under consideration for a warm-up match for the world-renowned touring side in five years' time.

The reasoning behind such a move is two-fold; the US would provide the Lions with a lucrative opportunity to cash in on a new market, while it also provides the party with a midway stop-off point on their way to their long-distanced opponents.

The extreme travel times have affected the tourists before when making their way to the southern hemisphere. Just 48 hours after landing in New Zealand in 2017, the Lions laboured to a 13-7 win over Provincial Barbarians side.

The US is hosting the 2031 and 2033 Rugby World Cups.

Ireland and New Zealand have played matches in the country before and are set to meet in Chicago in autumn 2025.

Borthwick promises things are different

By Duncan Bech, PA England Rugby Correspondent

Steve Borthwick has distanced his England from the Eddie Jones regime damningly described by Danny Care by revealing he has an open-door policy and encourages collaboration from his players.

Care wrote in his autobiography, which is being serialised in The Times, that everybody was “bloody terrified” of “despot” Jones, who was England’s head coach from 2015 to 2022.

The 101-cap scrum-half, now retired from international rugby, added that players felt like “characters in a dystopian novel” because of the “toxic” methods used by Jones.

Borthwick worked as an assistant coach under Jones with Japan and England before eventually replacing his former boss at Twickenham when he was sacked after a slump in results two years ago.

While declining to “talk about somebody’s experience” in reference to Care’s claims, Borthwick insists he has created a culture where his players are allowed their voices.

When asked if he is challenged by his squad, Borthwick replied: “There are plenty of times where we have ideas and we discuss them. It’s almost on a daily basis.

“I’ll be chatting with players and bouncing ideas around and then things get moulded, adapted and improved.

“The players are the ones on the pitch who know the game better than anyone else. The best players are the best coaches and luckily we have some great, great minds in this group.

“In this autumn we’ve had a notable step forward in terms of the players speaking in team meetings, sharing their opinions.

“I’m trying to create an environment that is right for this group at this time. I finished (as forwards coach with) England very early in 2020 and now we’re here in 2024.

“You can ask players and assistant coaches whatever you want to ask them about the environment now.”

Borthwick says his England set-up is subject to regular oversight from Rugby Football Union chief executive Bill Sweeney and executive director of performance rugby Conor O’Shea, as well as being open to visitors from the wider game.

“Bill and I speak every week either in person or on the phone. Bill was in camp last week and he’ll be in camp at the end of this week,” the former Leicester director of rugby said.

“Conor was in on Monday, he spent half a day in camp. The England Under-18s and -20s coaches have been in. There is a lot of interaction. Every Premiership club is very welcome to come in if they want to.”

England enter Saturday’s clash with Australia with the same starting personnel that fell to a 24-22 loss to New Zealand at Allianz Stadium.

The only change to the XV sees Henry Slade and Ollie Lawrence swap midfield positions in the hope of inducing greater output in attack from the centres.

The bench returns to a five-three split between forwards and backs with Luke Cowan-Dickie poised to make his first Test appearance for two years after displacing Theo Dan as replacement hooker.

Ben Curry drops out of the 23 altogether, while Ollie Sleightholme is promoted as the third back.

George Ford missed a last-gasp drop goal against the All Blacks but Borthwick is blaming the set-up for the kick and not the substitute fly-half for the costly miss.

“If you look at that series of plays, it starts from the scrum. Ultimately, they put pressure upon our scrum ball, which then eventually led to George being put under pressure,” he said.

“We didn’t give George the platform he required. So that’s a frustration. It’ll be something we’ll do better in the future.”

Graham ruled out for Scotland

By Anthony Brown, PA

Darcy Graham has been ruled out of Scotland’s showdown with South Africa on Sunday after failing to pass head injury protocols.

The prolific wing left the field in the closing stages of Saturday’s 57-17 win over Fiji as a result of a head knock sustained while scoring his fourth try of the match.

Head coach Gregor Townsend revealed on Tuesday afternoon that Graham will play no part against the Boks this weekend. There was better news for Scotland, however, as a hamstring injury sustained by versatile back Kyle Rowe – the most obvious contender to replace Graham on the wing after starting at full-back against Fiji – is not as bad as first feared.

“Yes, it’s mixed news, so the good news is that Kyle Rowe is much better than expected,” Townsend said. “We literally got his scan results back in the last hour, so he has a chance for this week, so we’re not ruling him out for this week, and obviously that means we’re not ruling him out for the tournament, which is positive.

“We all felt after the game that with a hamstring injury, it could be him missing the next few games, but no, he’s recovering well, and the scan provided positive news.

“Darcy, unfortunately, failed his (Head Injury Assessment) HIA2 and his HIA3, so he’ll be ruled out for this weekend.

“These obviously take their natural time to recover, it’s a 12-day period, so he’ll do nothing for the next three days and then he starts the graduated return to play. If everything goes well, he’ll be available for Portugal (the following Saturday).”

Toulon scrum-half Ben White, Toulouse full-back Blair Kinghorn and Bath stand-off Finn Russell are all back in the mix for Sunday after being unavailable for the Fiji game as it took place outside the international window.

Townsend has various options to plug the gaps in his back three left by Graham and potentially Rowe, with Tom Jordan, Jamie Dobie, Kinghorn, Huw Jones and Harry Paterson all versatile enough to play different roles in the back division if required.

“Blair’s been our starting full-back for a wee while now, he’s been in great form for Toulouse, but he’s also played on the wing for us, and he’s played on the wing for Toulouse this year,” said Townsend.

“Kyle is still an option, we’ll see how he progresses over the next couple of days. Harry Paterson has played very well for us in the summer and also in the Six Nations, Arron Reed was in cracking form, I saw two games for Sale which were outstanding.

“And we’ve also got Jamie Dobie, who’s played on the wing for us on the summer tour and for Glasgow.”

Townsend refused to be drawn on the case of Stuart Hogg, the 32-year-old former Scotland captain who pleaded guilty on Monday to a charge of abusing his estranged wife over the course of five years.

“I’m not going to comment on any specific cases, especially one that’s still ongoing, but on behalf of Scottish Rugby, we condemn any abuse, whether that’s domestic, online, social, and that’s something we feel strongly about,” said Townsend.