Ex-Scotland skipper Hogg undergoes Achilles surgery

EDINBURGH: Montpellier’s former Scotland captain Stuart Hogg underwent Achilles surgery on Tuesday which is expected to rule him out of the remainder of the season, the French Top 14 club announced.

Hogg, who can play at full-back and fly-half, left the field in Saturday’s Top 14 win over Perpignan with the injury.

Achilles injuries can take up to six months to recover from.

In January, Hogg was sentenced to supervision for a year and avoided a jail term after admitting he had abused his estranged wife over the course of five years.

The Test centurion came out of retirement at the start of the season as injury cover and is in talks about extending his contract with Montpellier.

The club are ninth in the Top 14 table, one point off the play-off places with four rounds of the regular season to go.

Separately, a groundbreaking FIFA-funded study at Kingston University will investigate whether hormonal fluctuations during menstrual cycles could be contributing to an alarming rise in career-threatening knee injuries in women’s soccer.

The research comes after players including Arsenal’s Beth Mead, Manchester City’s Vivianne Miedema and Chelsea’s Sam Kerr have all suffered serious injuries of the anterior cruciate ligament, which runs diagonally in the middle of the knee.

Newcastle skipper Lascelles to undergo surgery for ACL rupture