Former Scotland captain Stuart Hogg could be set for a return to rugby, with reports in France suggesting he is in talks to join Montpellier.
It is almost a year since Hogg, who won 100 caps for Scotland, withdrew from Scotland's training squad for the Rugby World Cup and called time on his career.
At the time, Hogg said: “I fought with everything I had to make the Rugby World Cup but this time my body has not been able to do the things I wanted and needed it to do.
“We knew this day would come eventually, I just never thought it would be this soon."
He had already revealed he would hang up his boots at the end of the tournament.
Now Hogg appears close to a return to the game. He was linked with a move to Newcastle Falcons, but that appears to have come to nothing, while he was also linked with a return to hometown club Hawick, where his brother Graham is among the coaching staff.
But now Midi Olympique, the respected French rugby newspaper, reports Hogg is being lined up as a replacement for France fullback Anthony Bouthier, who is out for the foreseeable future with a knee injury.
They say Montpellier have offered the former Scotland captain and three-time British and Irish Lions tourist a contract and could join the Top 14 struggles as a ‘medical joker’.
In April, Hogg took to social media to admit he was "lost" and spent time in rehab.
READ MORE: Emotional Scotland hero Stuart Hogg reveals rehab stint
The former Scotland captain and three-time British and Irish Lions tourist appeared in court last month charged with acting in an abusive manner towards his estranged wife, having been arrested outside a house in Hawick in February.
Hogg pleaded not guilty and was ordered to stay away from her ahead of a trial beginning at the end of July.
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