Blair Kinghorn update as Lions hopeful forced off early in Toulouse’s hammering derby victory
Blair Kinghorn of Toulouse and an inset of British and Irish Lions boss Andy Farrell.
Toulouse and Scotland star Blair Kinghorn sustained an early injury in the Top 14 derby against Castres on Saturday.
The 28-year-old is in doubt for Toulouse’s crunch Investec Champions Cup semi-final clash against Bordeaux-Begles next weekend after being forced off after just nine minutes.
Kinghorn sustained a knee injury in the early knockings of the emphatic 52-6 victory over their rivals.
Blair Kinghorn update
The Scotsman suffered the injury in an aerial duel, making knee-on-knee contact with the Castres player and was unable to return to the pitch. He was later seen on the sidelines sitting amongst the replacements.
Despite the setback, Toulouse ruthlessly put Castres to the sword, running in seven tries through Dimitri Delibes, Simon Daroque, Malachi Hawkes, Alexandre Roumat, Julian Marchant, Pierre-Louis Barassi and Mathis Castro-Ferreira.
The result cements Toulouse’s place at the summit of the Top 14 table ahead of the Champions Cup break, holding a 10-point buffer over Bordeaux ahead of the latter’s clash against La Rochelle this weekend.
Speaking after the match, assistant coach David Mele wasn’t too concerned about Kinghorn’s injury.
“Blair Kinghorn suffered a direct blow to the knee,” the former scrum-half said.
“We don’t know if there’s a twist or not. We’ll see what the tests do. But it didn’t seem too serious.”
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Lions hopes
Despite being based in France, Kinghorn is expected by many to be included in Andy Farrell’s British and Irish Lions squad, which will be announced on May 8.
The Lions may have to do without players based in France for the start of the tour if they are featuring in the Top 14 final, which ex-Lion Jeremy Guscott believes won’t rule stars like Kinghorn out.
“The release of French-based players is also going to be a factor,” he wrote in The Rugby Paper.
“It is unlikely many of them will be free to join the Lions until the Top 14 play-offs are clear, and it is likely that Kinghorn and Willis could be required by Toulouse all the way to the final on June 28.
“However, late release should not rule them out if they miss a bit of team building and join the tour in the build-up to the Waratahs game a week later.
“Kinghorn is sneaky quick, and has a skill set to play anywhere in the backline bar scrum-half – so, for me, he’s on the tour. Willis also has to be a serious consideration.”
