Blair Kinghorn

Blair Kinghorn
Birth nameBlair Simon Kinghorn
Date of birth (1997-01-18) 18 January 1997 (age 27)
Place of birthEdinburgh, Scotland
Height194 cm (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 Rugby 139 (327)
2023- Stade Toulousain 4 (12)
Correct as of 20 January 2024
International career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2015–2017 Scotland U20 15 (36)
2018– Scotland 50 (128)
2022 Scotland 'A' 1 (0)
Correct as of 9 December 2023
National sevens team(s)
Years Team Comps
2017 Scotland 2
Correct as of 19 March 2023

Blair Simon Kinghorn (born 18 January 1997) is a Scottish rugby union player who currently plays for Toulouse in the Top 14, France's top division of rugby, and the European Rugby Champions Cup.

Edinburgh

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 achievement this at aged 24 years and 117 days.

Toulouse

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]

Youth

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.[3]

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."[4]

International

In January 2018 he was called up to the senior Scotland squad for the 2018 Six Nations Championship.[5]

He went on to make his debut at Murrayfield in a 25-13 win against England.[6]

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. [7]

Kinghorn was selected in the 31 man squad for the 2019 Rugby World Cup. [8] In 2023 Kinghorn was selected in the 33 player squad for the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France.[9]

Appearances and tries by national team and year
National team Year Apps Tries
Scotland 2018 7 3
2019 10 4
2020 8 1
2021 3 0
2022 10 1
2023 12 5
Total 50 14

International tries

As of 24 September 2023[10]
Try Opposing team Venue Competition Date Score
1  Ireland Aviva Stadium, Dublin 2018 Six Nations 10 March 2018 28 - 8
2  United States BBVA Compass Stadium, Houston 2018 June rugby union tests 16 June 2018 30 - 29
3  Argentina Estadio Centenario, Resistencia 23 June 2018 15 - 44
4  Italy Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh 2019 Six Nations 2 February 2019 33 - 20
5
6
7  Georgia Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh 2019 Rugby World Cup warm-up matches 6 September 2019 36 - 9
8  Georgia Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh 2020 Autumn Internationals 23 October 2020 48 - 7
9  Australia Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh 2022 Autumn Internationals 29 October 2022 15 - 16
10  Wales Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh 2023 Six Nations 11 February 2023 35 - 7
11  Italy Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh 18 March 2023 26 - 14
12
13
14  Tonga Stade de Nice, Nice 2023 Rugby World Cup 24 September 2023 45 - 17

References

  1. ^ "Scotland youth Blair Kinghorn wins Edinburgh deal". BBC Sport. 5 May 2015.
  2. ^ "Blair Kinghorn signs for Toulouse after Edinburgh agree a six-figure release fee". The Offside Line. 23 November 2023. Retrieved 3 December 2023.
  3. ^ 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.
  4. ^ "Edinburgh Rugby sign stand-off Blair Kinghorn". The Scotsman. 5 May 2015. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
  5. ^ "Six Nations: Scotland returns for Greig Laidlaw & Scott Lawson". BBC. 16 January 2018. Retrieved 16 January 2018.
  6. ^ "Scotland v England - 2018 Six Nations". Six Nations Guide.
  7. ^ "Six Nations: Blair Kinghorn scores hat-trick as Scotland beat Italy". BBC Sport. 2 February 2019.
  8. ^ "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.
  9. ^ "Scotland squad named for Rugby World Cup 2023". Scottish Rugby Union.
  10. ^ "Blair Kinghorn". Scottish Rugby. Retrieved 25 September 2023.

External links