Scotland's 6 foot 5 inch replacement for Stuart Hogg
Blair Kinghorn is too modest to admit it and too wary of being labelled presumptuous to say more than a few reverential words about it, but behind his eyes, the Scotland full-back jersey must be looming like the pot of gold at the end of a rainbow.
“I’ve not thought too much about it,” he says, with a shake of the head that is anything but convincing.
“There are lots of talented back-three players here,” he adds.
“Anyone can slot into that 15 role,” he insists.
The truth is that while Gregor Townsend has a penchant for the unexpected, it would be a colossal shock if anyone but Kinghorn is the starting 15 in Cardiff in five days time.
There’s no Stuart Hogg, of course, the wonderful lynchpin of the Scottish backline recovering from ankle surgery. Ruaridh Jackson isn’t in the squad. Byron McGuigan and Sean Maitland are but as this first autumn Test falls outside the international window, their English clubs have no obligation to release them. Even were they available, Kinghorn would still be the overwhelming front-runner.
Tommy Seymour is in the hunt too, but even allowing for his fine showing in the role during Glasgow’s ruthless dismantling of Cardiff Blues, he doesn’t usurp Kinghorn. Dave Rennie, Seymour’s club coach, said as much last week. Seymour is an option for Townsend, but Kinghorn has the strongest case.
The gangling 21-year-old has a boat-load of qualities to admire. Last season, he came of age at Richard Cockerill’s Edinburgh, emerging as one of the most devastating strike-runners in the Pro14 at 6’5 and 95kg.
His ability to lope into the line from deep, gallop through holes and free a snaking arm for an off-load is precious. With that long frame and searing speed, he is an excellent finisher. He made more metres than any other player in the league last year, and was near the top of the charts for carries, defenders beaten, clean breaks and off-loads. He is up there in all those ranking tables again six rounds into the new season.
Kinghorn won his first cap off the bench in Scotland’s rousing Calcutta Cup triumph and scored a fine try against Ireland in his first start the following round, playing on the wing.
He toured the Americas in the summer, starting the perfunctory win over Canada at full-back, the bruising loss to the USA and the walloping Townsend’s troops dealt Argentina on either wing, touching down twice more. All in all, a brilliant break-out season.
“It’s definitely a pretty big jump up [from club to international rugby], although when you play the big games in the Champions Cup the physicality is right up there,” Kinghorn says.
“The difference I’ve found is the pace of international rugby being much quicker. Everyone is at the top of their game.
“It’s just about getting used to playing in front of that many people. At club level, you’re playing in front of 7-10,000, whereas at the Aviva Stadium and Murrayfield, it’s packed full.
“I was really nervous before my first cap, so it’s about getting in your own zone. One thing that sticks in my mind is sitting in the changing room beforehand and Greig Laidlaw coming over to say, ‘just do your thing’.”
Kinghorn’s game is mighty impressive, but if there is a chink in his armour, it is his one-on-one defence. The ease with which Benjamin Fall, Craig Gilroy and George North have waltzed through his arms over the past two months is enough to set alarm bells ringing.
Sure, these are world-class attackers we’re talking about, but if you want to be an international regular, you have to put world-class attackers on their backsides.
“I’m getting better; my form is getting closer to where it needs to be. In the first couple of games of the season, I was a bit off the pace, but the Edinburgh team are functioning really well at the minute and I’m just happy to be part of it,” Kinghorn says.
“Coming back in after two months away from rugby, your game sharpness does go a little bit and it takes a couple of games to get back into it.
“I feel like a big work-on at the moment is my defence and I’ve been working really hard with our defence coach, Calum MacRae.
“The main point I’ve been given is to work hard on all my little skills. At the start of last season, it was basic mistakes that were letting me down, letting the team down. Whether it was kicking, a couple of passes or my tackling. I’ve been working on my basic skills week in week out, so that under pressure I can perform.
“Mistakes are always part of the game. When you’re going with your instinct, sometimes you do make mistakes. That’s life, you’re human, everyone does that. It’s more about not making unforced errors. I’ve worked really hard at it, with all the coaches at Edinburgh, and also on my concentration throughout the whole week.”
Kinghorn didn’t play in Scotland’s Six Nations humiliation in Cardiff back in February, but he was there. As the 24th man, he took part in the warm-up, drinking in the sights and sounds of a Championship battle. He sat in the stand enveloped in his tracksuit, deafened by the joyous roars of Welsh revellers. He watched in horror as his team-mates were battered and bamboozled, the wave of hope they had ridden into the campaign utterly shredded in 80 brutal minutes.
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“I was rooming with Henry Pyrgos, who was the 25th man,” he recalls.
“It was a brilliant experience, my first taste of being 24th man in an away game. Obviously it was a really disappointing result but a good experience to be in with the team, doing the warm-up, and seeing what it’s like on match-day in an international set-up.
“It wasn’t the result we were looking for. We had a hard look at it, reviewed it and realised we just didn’t play the way we wanted to play. We’re looking to put the wrongs right when we go down there now.
“Once the roof’s shut, it’s a pretty intimidating place to go. It’s a great stadium, the noise is unbelievable and the atmosphere is brilliant. It is places like that you want to go and play rugby. When we went to Thomond Park with Edinburgh it was brilliant – it’s a cauldron, a tough place to go, but that’s where you want to go and challenge yourself as a team.
“At the Principality, you try to talk to people in the warm-up and you can’t really hear them. It’s a brilliant atmosphere, they always get a great crowd in there and the noise is always right at the top.”
Kinghorn is right, Scotland have demons to banish and a dragon to slay this weekend, but he has his own challenges to confront. The November period is his best opportunity to further outline his international credentials.
Unseating a fit Hogg will be a mountainous undertaking. A slot on the wing looks a more likely long-term option. Townsend has a bucketful of excellent back-three competitors but if Kinghorn’s rise continues at this rate, he will be extremely hard to leave
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Comments on RugbyPass
Pick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
15 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
4 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
4 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to commentsIt couldn’t have been Ryan Crotty. He wasn’t selected in either World Cup side - they chose Money Bill instead. And Money Bill only cared about himself, and that manager he had, not the team.
26 Go to commentsYawn 🥱 nobody would give a hoot about this new trophy. End of the day we just have to beat Ireland and NZ this year then they can finally shut up 🤐
15 Go to commentsTalking bout Ryan Crotty? Heard Crotty say in a interview once that SBW doesen't care about the team . He went on to say that whenever they lost a big game, SBW would be happy as if nothing happened, according to him someone who cares would look down.. Personally I think Crotty is in the wrong, not for feeling gutted but for expecting others 2 be like him… I have been a bad loser forever as it matters so much to me but good on you SBW for being able to see the bigger picture….
26 Go to commentsThis sounds like a WWE idea so Americans can also get excited about rugby, RUGBY NEEDS A INTERNATIONAL CALENDER .. The rugby Championship and Six Nations can be held at same time, top 3 of six nations and top 3 of Rugby championship (6 nations should include Georgia AND another qualifying country while Fiji, Japan and Samoa/Tonga qualifier should make out 6 Southern teams).. Scrap June internationals and year end tours. Have a Elite top six Cup and the Bottom 6 in a secondary comp….
15 Go to commentsThe rugby championship would be even stronger with Fiji in it… I know it doesen’t fit the long term plans of NZ or Aus but you are robbing a whole nation of being able to see their best players play for Fiji…. Every second player in NZ and AUS teams has Fijian surnames… shame on you!!! World rugby won’t step in either as France and England has now also joined in…. I guess where money is involved it will always be the poor countries missing out….
84 Go to commentsNo surprise there. How hard can it be to pick a ball off the ground and chuck it to a mate? 😂
2 Go to commentsSometimes people just like a moan mate!
4 Go to commentsexcellent idea ! rugby needs this 💪
15 Go to comments9 Brumbies! What a joke! The best performing team in Oz! Ditch Skelton for Swain or Neville. Ryan Lonergan ahead of McDermott any day! Best selection bolter is Toole … amazing player
14 Go to commentsI like this, but ultimately rugby already has enough trophies. Trying to make more games “consequential" might prove to be a fools errand, although this is a less bad idea than some others. Minor quibble with the title of the article; it isn’t very meaningful to say the boks are the unofficial world champions when it would be functionally impossible for the Raeburn trophy not to be held by the world champions. There’s a period of a few months every 4 years when there is no “unofficial” world champion, and the Raeburn trophy is held by the actual world champions.
15 Go to commentsIts a great idea but one that I dont think will have a lot of traction. It will depend on the prestige that they each hold but if you can do that it would be great. When Japan beat the Boks (my team) I was absolutely devestated but I wont deny the great game they played that day. We were outclassed and it was one of the best games of rugby I have seen. Using an idea like this you might just give the the underdog teams more of an opportunity to beat the big teams and I can absolutely see it being a brilliant display of rugby. They beat us because they planned for that game. It was a great moment for Japan. This way we can remove the 4 year wait and give teams something to aim for outside of World Cup years.
15 Go to commentsHi, Dave here. Happy to answer questions 🥰
15 Go to commentsDon’t think that headline is accurate. It’s great to see Aus doing better but I’m not sure they’ve shown much threat to the top of the table. They shouldn’t be inflating wins against the lousy Highlanders and Crusaders either.
3 Go to comments