Kinghorn: Away record has to improve, starting in Paris
SCOTLAND speedster Blair Kinghorn admits the team’s defence has simply not been up to the mark so far during the Six Nations and knows it must improve rapidly ahead of travelling to Paris on Saturday.
For the first 70 minutes of this year’s championship Gregor Townsend’s men had shipped just three points, but in the last 90 minutes of play they have conceded six tries.
The three by Italy in round one came in a ten minute spell when Scotland switched off, while the ease with which Jacob Stockdale burst through the middle to score Ireland’s first try in round two was a concern for everyone north of the border.
“The boys were really frustrated after the Ireland game, the three tries we let in were all preventable,” said Edinburgh back three man Kinghorn.
“I think my positioning was fine for Stockdale’s try, that’s the way we set up – the defence coach (Matt Taylor) hasn’t pulled me up on it yet. It was a wellplanned set move from them, a double cut inside and then he had enough pace to run straight down the middle.
“We know we have it in us though to defend well and to win in France would be massive.
“Our away record isn’t the best and we know that, so if we really want to put ourselves up there and be in contention to win the Six Nations and move up in the world rankings then we need to go to tough places like Paris and put in a performance that gets a result.
“France will be disappointed in themselves with the way they’ve performed since that first half against Wales when they were excellent – and they definitely won’t be happy with the way they played against England.
“They’ll have a tough week in training and will come out firing so it’ll be a really physical Test.”
When Stockdale scored his try at Murrayfield in the 16th minute of the 22-13 victory, Kinghorn had just replaced the injured Stuart Hogg, below. With Hogg undergoing treatment on a shoulder injury, Kinghorn will likely step in at 15 at the Stade de France. Hope remains that Hogg will return during the tournament but centre Huw Jones and back row Ryan Wilson have both been ruled out. Kinghorn feels he has bounced back well after being dropped for that Ireland clash despite a hat-trick against Italy. “You can’t really beat yourself up, that’s just the way it is sometimes,” he said. “If you sit in a slump for too long it’s not really going to help your development in any way. You’ve just got to pick yourself up, carry on and prepare the best way you can. “If I’d been in a slump sitting on the bench thinking I should have been on the park then when Hoggy went down I wouldn’t have been in the zone. You’ve got to be switched on the whole time.”