Player ratings: Blair Kinghorn impresses on first Scotland start
Here’s our ratings from Scotland’s disappointing 28-8 defeat to Ireland at the Aviva Stadium.
15 Stuart Hogg – Was always most likely to provide Scottish spark but not enough opportunities. Generally good kicking with ball in hand and under bombardment of Irish high ball. Will have been disappointed not to get pass away to Kinghorn in first-half. 8/10
14 Blair Kinghorn – Barely put a foot wrong. Try-scorer on first Scottish start and was energetic throughout. Excellent offload in first-half showed his dexterity with the hands. 8/10
13 Huw Jones – Strangely quiet for the try scoring machine. Great initial break early on was undermined by poor final pass to Hogg which prevented certain seven points. 5/10
12 Peter Horne – Made some great running lines at second receiver but accuracy with ball in hand was poor. Often overthrowing passes at key times. 5/10
11 Sean Maitland – Was outshone by Kinghorn on the opposing wing. Did little wrong but didn’t do an awful lot right either. Largely nullified throughout. 5/10
10 Finn Russell – Didn’t adopt usual maverick role and played percentages far more. Didn’t particularly stamp his authority on the contest and remained relatively quiet. 5/10
9 Greig Laidlaw – Kicked an early penalty before missing tough conversion. Provided sufficient ball for his backs to try and affect the contest. 6/10
8 Ryan Wilson – Had to go off early and didn’t return after failing HIA.
7 Hamish Watson – Got a key turnover at an important time in the contest but in proved irrelevant. Like many of his team mates he didn’t have his finest day when they probably needed it. 6/10
6 John Barclay – Captain was nowhere near the level he showed against England. Reliable in defence but failed to influence the game elsewhere. 5/10
5 Jonny Gray – Model of consistency even in defeat. Tireless in defence with upwards of 20 tackles. 7/10
4 Grant Gilchrist – Carried regularly and tackled often but both sides of his game had little to no impact on proceedings. 4/10
3 Simon Berghan – Like his fellow prop has little impact on the contest. Carried a handful of times but with little gain. 4/10
2 Stuart McInally – Showed his mix of strong carrying and skill with ball in hand. Scrummaged well. 6/10
1 Gordon Reid – Was largely ineffective throughout. Rarely carrying but ample effort in defence. 4/10
Replacements:
16 Fraser Brown – Big turnover in defence but no other impact. 5/10
17 Jamie Bhatti – No impact.
18 Willem Nel – Had little impact throughout following his introduction. 4/10
19 Tim Swinson – No impact.
20 David Denton – Early replacement for Wilson and carried excellently whilst being strong in defence but gave away so needless penalties. 6/10
21 Ali Price – No impact.
22 Nick Grigg – No impact.
23 Lee Jones – No impact.
by Sam Meade