Toony finds it hard but still opts to drop hat-trick hero
GREGOR Townsend admits he was racked with second thoughts as he weighed up whether to drop hat-trick hero Blair Kinghorn for tomorrow’s Guinness Six Nations crunch match with Ireland.
In the end, the Scotland head coach opted to go with experienced wing Sean Maitland to face Joe Schmidt’s men at Murrayfield with Kinghorn dropped to the bench.
The 22-year-old Edinburgh star became the first Scottish player for 30 years to score a Championship treble as he ran in three times against Italy last weekend.
And Townsend admits his stunning display against the Azzurri forced a rethink on his plan to recall Maitland after his recovery from the hamstring injury that saw him miss the Scots’ opening win.
But he was ultimately swayed by the experience offered by the Saracens wing – who has 35 Test caps and a British and Irish Lion tour under his belt – as he plots a way to beat an Ireland line-up still ranked second in the world despite losing at home to England last weekend. Asked how tough a call it was to leave Kinghorn out of his starting XV, Townsend said: “More difficult than what we planned it was going to be the week before.
“We were always hoping Sean would get back fit for this game. Sean would have been starting against Italy with Tommy Seymour if he’d been fit.
“Blair’s performance did mean that we had an extended discussion that went on a second day, but we believe that Tommy and Sean are best equipped for this.
“But nothing should be