Cockerill happy to take risk and field Kinghorn at No 10

Richard Cockerill believes starting Blair Kinghorn in Edinburgh’s number 10 jersey is “worth the risk” as he prepares to roll the dice on the full-back guiding his team past Racing 92.

Injury means regular stand-off Jaco Van Der Walt is only fit enough for the bench as the Scots visit Paris tomorrow in the Heineken Champions Cup last 16.

And Cockerill has decided to put his faith in Kinghorn to spearhead Edinburgh’s attack even though he admits the 24-year-old has barely played there since school.

“We’ve picked what is pretty much our best XV available,” said Cockerill, who has recalled his seven Scotland stars who played in the triumph over France in Paris. “The headline is probably Blair at 10, which I thought was the best selection for this week going to Paris to really take the game to Racing.

“He’s played tiny bits at 10 since I’ve been here but probably not school days.

“But ball in hand he’s a threat, he’s very off-the-cuff and creates opportunities because he’s naturally instinctive and very quick.

“Obviously the game control side is lacking a bit because it’s not his natural position.

“But I thought that it was the right decision for this week all things considered. It’s a bold selection but one that’s very much worth the risk.

“If we can get front-foot ball he’s very dangerous. He talks well, he understands the game and sees the picture in front of him well. If there are opportunities to attack he will see them and hopefully we’ll exploit them.

“Jaco hasn’t played. We wanted to get good minutes into him last week but he got a dead leg and he hasn’t been able to train until today so I felt that the right thing was to pick Blair because he suits our game for this weekend.” since his

Racing have also been forced into a change at stand-off, with Kinghorn’s international team-mate Finn Russell banned after being sent off in that historic Stade de France victory last week.

Antoine Gibert will instead take the reins for last year’s beaten finalists and Cockerill is relieved.

“Finn is a wonderful player, one of the best in the world,” he said.

“I’m happy he’s not playing because he makes them tick and can create something from nothing.” ● Tournament bosses last night awarded Leinster direct passage to the last eight, where they will meet defending champions Exeter or French side Lyon after the cancellation of their last-16 clash with three-time winners Toulon.

Toulon had travelled to Dublin for their clash with Leinster at the RDS Arena last night, but a player who did not make the trip had tested positive for coronavirus.