Stuart Hogg: Exeter sign Scotland and Glasgow full-back on two-year deal
- From the section Rugby Union
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Scotland and British and Irish Lions full-back Stuart Hogg will join English Premiership side Exeter next summer.
The Glasgow Warriors player, 26, has agreed a two-year deal at the Chiefs.
Hogg, who has 63 Scotland caps and been on the last two Lions tours, is the first confirmed signing for next season for the 2017 Premiership champions.
"This is a decision that's taken a great deal of thought as I've loved my nine seasons at Glasgow," said Hogg, who has scored 18 tries for Scotland.
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"I said I would decide my next step for family and rugby reasons and feel now is the right time to gain new rugby experiences and push myself in different situations where I will be challenged and hopefully improve further."
Hogg will not be available to play for Exeter until late October at the earliest given the group stages of the World Cup finish in the middle of the month.
The Borderer, who won the Pro12 title in 2015 and has twice been named Six Nations player of the tournament, will make up an impressive back three at Exeter.
Fellow British and Irish Lions Alex Cuthbert and Jack Nowell are already on the wings for the Chiefs, who have reached the last three Premiership finals and topped the regular season table for the first time in May.
"You can see the club are hugely ambitious and want to win things and I'm very much the same," added Hogg.
"We are still less than halfway through my final season at the Warriors and there's a chance to do something special. That's the send-off I want to give the club and the fans."
Hogg signing 'a statement'
Exeter boss Rob Baxter says bringing in another top-class international player shows the club's commitment to staying at the top of the English game and aiming for so-far elusive success in Europe.
"We've tracked him for some time and we actually wanted to sign him before he signed his last contract at Glasgow.
"At that stage it wasn't the right time for him to move, but now it is and we feel he will be a fantastic addition to our squad.
"Yes, it's a statement on our part. But, anyone who knows us and where we want to go, will understand that for us to move forward and win trophies we have to back ourselves fully and that means bringing in players who we feel will take us to that next level."
Former Scotland centre Alan Tait feels Exeter is the perfect fit for Hogg's style of play.
"He's not going to one of the teams that just play field position and look to the forwards," he told BBC Scotland.
"Exeter play with a quick tempo, they look for scrum-halves that can get to the breakdown quickly. They build themselves around really fit, non-stop players, a bit like the Scottish mould.
"I think Hoggy will have looked at that and thought, yeah, I like this, and that maybe swung his decision."
Analysis
Brent Pilnick, BBC Sport, Exeter
This signing marks the latest phase in the evolution of the Exeter Chiefs.
Having won promotion nine years ago, the club firstly stabilised in the top flight and brought in good but low-profile players who ground out results and improved in the Premiership.
Five years ago they started to bring in more recognised players with a certain level of experience; the likes of Thomas Waldrom, Julian Salvi and Geoff Parling.
With Exeter established as a Premiership force, European success is now the aim and Hogg's signing gives them an all-British and Irish Lions back three.
Added to other internationals such as Henry Slade and Ollie Devoto, it gives Exeter a backline to match their revered forwards.
