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Blair Kinghorn

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Blair Kinghorn
Kinghorn representing Scotland during the World Rugby Under 20 Championship
Full nameBlair Simon Kinghorn
Date of birth (1997-01-18) 18 January 1997 (age 27)
Place of birthEdinburgh, Scotland
Height1.94 m (6 ft 4 in)
Weight107 kg (236 lb; 16 st 12 lb)
SchoolEdinburgh Academy
Rugby union career
Position(s) Fullback, Fly-half, Wing
Current team Toulouse
Senior career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2015–2023 Edinburgh 138 (334)
2023– Toulouse 19 (99)
Correct as of 16 October 2024
International career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2015–2017 Scotland U20 15 (36)
2017 Scotland 7s 12 (7)
2018– Scotland 54 (128)
2022 Scotland 'A' 1 (0)
Correct as of 11 November 2024

Blair Simon Kinghorn (born 18 January 1997) is a Scottish professional rugby union player who plays as a fullback for Top 14 club Toulouse and the Scotland national team.

Club career

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Edinburgh

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Edinburgh signed Kinghorn on a two-year professional contract straight from Edinburgh Academy.[1]

He made his professional debut as a 70th-minute substitute in Edinburgh's match against Zebre in the 2015–16 Pro12. He scored his first try for the club the following season against Benetton, going on to score a total of 36 tries for Edinburgh, leaving him currently second in the list of most tries scored for the club (correct as of December 2023). In total, Blair scored 327 points for Edinburgh with 19 penalties and 45 conversions to go with his impressive try haul.

Blair has 139 Caps for Edinburgh with a very impressive 86% start rate (122 starts, 17 appearances as a replacement and only 3 not used when selected in the match day 23). He is currently the youngest player to have reached 100 caps for Edinburgh, having achieved this at aged 24 years and 117 days.

Toulouse

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Kinghorn left Edinburgh to join Toulouse in December 2023, with his new club paying a six-figure fee to buy out the 26-year-old’s contract which was due to expire in June 2024. Kinghorn scored two tries on his Toulouse debut on 9 December 2023 against Cardiff in the Champions Cup.[2]

Kinghorn performed well for Stade Toulousain, by the 2023/24 Champions Cup Final Kinghorn earned the starting position over teammate and French international Thomas Ramos, as he scored 12 points from the tee and made a crucial tackle to stop a breakaway try, helping Toulouse to their 6th European Title which they won in extra time.[3]

International career

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Youth

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Kinghorn has represented Edinburgh at under-17, under-18 and under-20 level and Scotland at under-18 and under-20 level.

Kinghorn was a National Youth League Cup winner with Currie at under-16 level and formerly a member of Heart of Midlothian's Youth Academy.[4]

He said: "When I was younger, football was my main interest, then I started to play rugby at school. Some of my mates went to play for Currie so I went along with them, then things escalated at under-16 level. I began playing for the school first XV and since then it's been my goal to play professionally."[5]

Scotland

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In January 2018 he was called up to the senior Scotland squad for the 2018 Six Nations Championship.[6]

He went on to make his debut at Murrayfield in a 25-13 win against England.[7]

He then went on to earn his first international start, on the wing, in a 28-8 loss to Ireland. He scored Scotland's only try of the match. He played in all three matches during his first tour with Scotland - to the Americas in the summer of 2018 - scoring tries against the USA and Argentina.

In Scotland's 2019 campaign he scored three tries in their first match against Italy. He scored another hat trick against Italy in 2023, also scoring against Wales earlier in the tournament.[8]

Kinghorn was selected in the 31 man squad for the 2019 Rugby World Cup.[9] In 2023 Kinghorn was selected in the 33 player squad for the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France.[10]

Career statistics

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List of international tries

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No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 10 March 2018 Aviva Stadium, Dublin, Ireland  Ireland 8–21 8–28 2018 Six Nations Championship
2 16 June 2018 BBVA Compass Stadium, Houston, Texas, United States  United States 5–0 29–30 2018 June rugby union tests
3 23 June 2018 Estadio Centenario, Resistencia, Argentina  Argentina 12–0 44–15 2018 June rugby union tests
4 2 February 2019 Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh, Scotland  Italy 5–3 33–20 2019 Six Nations Championship
5 10–3
6 24–3
7 6 September 2019 Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh, Scotland  Georgia 10–3 36–9 2019 Rugby World Cup warm-up matches
8 23 October 2020 Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh, Scotland  Georgia 46–7 48–7 2020 end-of-year rugby union internationals
9 29 October 2022 Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh, Scotland  Australia 10–6 15–16 2022 end-of-year rugby union internationals
10 11 February 2023 Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh, Scotland  Wales 30–7 35–7 2023 Six Nations Championship
11 18 March 2023 Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh, Scotland  Italy 10–6 26–14 2023 Six Nations Championship
12 17–6
13 24–14
14 24 September 2023 Stade de Nice, Nice, France  Tonga 36–17 45–17 2023 Rugby World Cup

as of 24 September 2023[11]

Honours

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Toulouse

References

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  1. ^ "Scotland youth Blair Kinghorn wins Edinburgh deal". BBC Sport. 5 May 2015.
  2. ^ Barnes, David (23 November 2023). "Blair Kinghorn signs for Toulouse after Edinburgh agree a six-figure release fee". The Offside Line. Retrieved 3 December 2023.
  3. ^ Mairs, Gavin; Coles, Ben (25 May 2023). "Champions Cup final result: Leinster fluff lines again as Toulouse crowned champions of Europe". The Telegraph. Retrieved 26 May 2024.
  4. ^ Smith, Aidan (14 December 2019). "Interview: Blair Kinghorn on Stuart Hogg, the World Cup, hat-trick heroics and why he quit Hearts to play rugby". The Scotsman. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
  5. ^ "Edinburgh Rugby sign stand-off Blair Kinghorn". The Scotsman. 5 May 2015. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
  6. ^ "Six Nations: Scotland returns for Greig Laidlaw & Scott Lawson". BBC. 16 January 2018. Retrieved 16 January 2018.
  7. ^ "Scotland v England - 2018 Six Nations". Six Nations Guide. 24 February 2018.
  8. ^ "Six Nations: Blair Kinghorn scores hat-trick as Scotland beat Italy". BBC Sport. 2 February 2019.
  9. ^ "Rugby World Cup: Stuart McInally to captain Scotland as Huw Jones and Rory Hutchinson miss out". BBC Sport. 3 September 2019. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
  10. ^ "Scotland squad named for Rugby World Cup 2023". Scottish Rugby Union. 16 August 2023.
  11. ^ "Blair Kinghorn". Scottish Rugby. Retrieved 25 September 2023.
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