Stuart Hogg has admitted that retiring from rugby to try to save his marriage was the “biggest mistake” of his life.
Earlier this year, Hogg, 33, was spared jail after admitting abusing his estranged wife, Gillian, over the course of five years. Scotland’s all-time record points-scorer was given a community payback order, with supervision for a year.
Hogg, who won 100 caps for Scotland and went on three British and Irish Lions tours, claims he “did not know what was going on in life” at the end of his rugby career and that he was “up to his eyeballs in antidepressants”.
“I missed the buzz, the changing room, the banter. I missed rugby more than I ever realised. I gave up on my rugby career to try to save my marriage. At the time, I didn’t know who I was,” the former Exeter Chiefs full-back told The Rugby Paper.
“I was up to my eyeballs in antidepressants. I didn’t know what was going on in life, whether I was making people happy or sad. I used alcohol to escape. I was purely existing.
“The Doddie Aid cycle ride from Scotland to Rome changed everything. For the first time since retiring, I felt part of a team again. I came back and told my dad, ‘I’ve made the biggest mistake of my life.’”
