WE WILL MAKE AMENDS
Kinghorn is vowing to offer more resistance in Resistencia after American humiliation
BLAIR KInghoRn was still lamenting the one that got away — with the Scotland team handed plenty of time to lick the wounds of a shock defeat to the USA.
A five-hour flight delay on their journey to Argentina offered plenty of opportunity for reflection after the 30-29 loss.
For Kinghorn it was a chance to reflect on the missed conversion that would have handed gregor Townsend’s side the most unlikely of last-gasp victories.
Yet, in adversity can still come strength and the Edinburgh man is determined to use the experience as another step on a harsh learning curve.
‘I felt confident stepping up to it and to miss, it’s just one of those things,’ Kinghorn said.
‘I’ll look at it and learn from it. It’s a massive development curve and I will definitely learn from the experience.
‘To be honest, if I had put the kick over I don’t think we would have deserved to win.
‘The USA were a better team than us on the day. They deserved their victory. If we had won that game it would have been a real get out of jail for us. The right team won in the end.’
When Kinghorn was named in Townsend’s squad for Scotland’s summer tour, he was looked on as a fringe player.
Yet despite the pain of Saturday’s defeat, the final encounter against Argentina offers the chance of redemption and the opportunity to nail his place in Scotland’s World Cup squad.
In just two games he has shown his versatility by starting at fullback against Canada and on the wing against the USA.
he put over three conversions in the 48-10 win in Edmonton and scored a try and put over two conversions and a penalty in the loss to America.
‘I was really happy with our start as a team and we executed what we wanted to do but it was a shame we just didn’t kick on after that,’ said Kinghorn.
‘We made too many mistakes and our discipline cost us in the end. We gave away too many penalties on the trot, which hurt us at the start of the second half.
‘Losing is the biggest disappointment you can have in a Scotland jersey.
‘Whenever you pull it on you want to do your country proud, and we didn’t do that against the USA.
‘There were positives and it was a young team we put out.
‘We had two new caps, Matt Fagerson and george horne, who were both outstanding.
‘A lot of boys were getting their first starts, so everyone will learn from this. We’ll come away better for it.
‘I think we learned how cruel international rugby can be.
‘If you’re not on your game you pay the price, and we paid the price against the USA.
‘We are all desperate to make amends against Argentina in our final game and it is great we have the chance to do that.’
For all Kinghorn’s confidence he will need some experienced men around him as the match against Argentina in Resistencia is sure to be a physical affair.
The Pumas lost to Wales over two consecutive weekends with their head coach Daniel hourcade offering his resignation after the second defeat.
The match against Scotland will be his final one in charge.
Tim Swinson — who started in the back row against the USA but who will likely revert back to his usual place in the second row against Argentina — is the sort of hard-tackling forward Scotland will need.
he knows from experience the level of physical challenge his team face at the weekend. ‘I have two wins, no losses against them, one in Cordoba four years ago, another at Murrayfield in 2016,’ said the glasgow Warriors forward. ‘They are traditionally a strong, physical side and that is what we can expect again.
‘They have a huge reputation around scrum time and forward play and we have to be ready for that.’
The 31-year-old knows how vital it is for Scotland to leave Argentina with a win to allow them to look on the summer tour as a success.
And he added: ‘If we have a bad weekend against Argentina you could probably point to the game against the USA and say this is where it all went wrong.
‘If we have a good performance it shows we can bounce back.
‘We will go into the Argentina game taking positives and learning things from the USA game. That tends to happen more in a loss than a win.
‘We need to improve depth in Scottish rugby.
‘I am not saying the young guys didn’t perform, a lot of them were outstanding against the USA.
‘Blair (Kinghorn) was unfortunate to miss that kick at the end and it was by no means his fault, I wouldn’t want to kick it.
‘I wouldn’t say it was a risk playing a young side in houston.
‘Everyone deserved their place there, everyone who was on that pitch has played fantastically well for their club throughout the year.
‘It’s not like we’re trying out guys we haven’t seen before.
‘That game has gone now though and our focus is all on Argentina.’