Scotland nine believes Top 14 club is the ‘perfect place’ to rediscover form

Scotland scrum-half Ben White is determined to bounce back from Rugby World Cup disappointment with Top 14 side Toulon.

The number nine linked up with the French outfit following the collapse of London Irish and the completion of the World Cup, where Scotland failed to progress past the pool stages.

The 25-year-old has quickly settled in at the club in the south of France and earns his third-successive start for Toulon up against Toulouse in the Top 14 this weekend.

Taking on Kinghorn in France

He is set to go up against fellow Scotland star Blair Kinghorn, who made the mid-season switch from Edinburgh to Toulouse.

Kinghorn made a splash on debut for Toulouse, scoring twice in their Champions Cup victory over Cardiff, and now earns his third straight start.

“When I heard Blair might move to Toulouse, I messaged him, and we had a chat about things,” White told the PA news agency.

“He’s obviously started really well for Toulouse, which has been great to see. It will be nice to see him and catch up after the game.”

White revealed that he reached out to ex-Racing 92 fly-half and his Scotland teammate Finn Russell before completing his move to France.

“I spoke to Finn about it; he obviously loved his time in France and was a kingpin in the Racing team for a long time,” said White. “He was all for it and thought it would be a good experience for me.

“I always wanted to play abroad, and when a club like Toulon come in for you, it’s the perfect place to improve as a player.”

Rugby in Toulon

The talented scrum-half is enjoying the passionate crowds in France and is relishing learning from ex-Les Bleus number nine Pierre Mignoni and clubmate Baptiste Serin.

“I’ve been getting good minutes, and I feel like I’ve been playing well,” he said.

“It has helped that the head coach, Pierre Mignoni, was a scrum-half so he’s spoken to me about things I can work on.

“Toulon is a big rugby city; the club is probably the pride of the city, and the fans really get behind you. It’s a great place to play.”

Scotland ambitions

Ahead of the World Cup, White was Gregor Townsend’s first-choice scrum-half but fell out of favour as Ali Price and George Horne preferred for the crucial pool stage match against Ireland, their last game at the tournament.

With the Six Nations on the horizon, he hopes his form in France will force Townsend’s hand and earn him a recall to the starting XV.

“I loved my experience at the World Cup but it was bitterly disappointing not to play against Ireland and to not go through to the quarters,” said White.

“There are some great nines in the squad, I understand that. It was obviously disappointing but you respect the decision and move on. Gregor spoke to me and explained his decision.

“For me it’s about trying to play as well as I can for Toulon to give myself the opportunity to play for Scotland.”

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