Kinghorn will not hit panic button in decider
FOR all the many plaudits that were showered upon Edinburgh after last weekend’s victory in Toulon, one aspect of their performance stood out above all others.
Namely, the ability to remain calm under pressure. It is something which was tested to the extreme when the French side scored the opening try after just 85 seconds.
At that point, the echoes of Toulon’s famous pre-match PilouPilou chant were still ringing out around the stadium.
Yet, even at such an early juncture, it seemed like Edinburgh could be on the receiving end of a battering.
Their response, though, was magnificent — and Blair Kinghorn believes the ability to maintain composure will once again be key against Montpellier.
As head coach Richard Cockerill admitted earlier this week, there is still a danger that Edinburgh could fall flat on their face despite the head of steam they have built.
What they certainly won’t do, however, is feel any need to press the panic button against Vern Cotter’s side, who, like Toulon, possess some thunderous figures in their backline.
Chief among them is Nemani Nadolo, the giant Fijian winger rested for last week’s win over Newcastle but set to be unleashed at Murrayfield on Friday night.
In what is effectively a shoot-out between the two teams to finish top of Pool Five, Kinghorn believes an ability to overcome any early setbacks could prove pivotal.
Asked what was said after that early concession last weekend, Kinghorn revealed: ‘It was actually really calm. We all knew as a squad that we could do much better.
‘Rambo (Stuart McInally, captain) took us in, had a quiet word and it was on to the next job, focus on the kick-off and, from there, our defence only got better.
‘We obviously knew that, if we let them into our 22, they’ve got a very big pack who are very powerful, so we knew that was going to be a challenge.
‘If you fall off tackles or get a few little things wrong against teams that good, then they can expose you.
‘But, from there, our defence only got better and we were able to shut down most of their threats.
‘Of course, that sets us up for Montpellier. They have a lot of world-class individuals, but they’re fairly similar to Toulon in terms of their forward pack being big and powerful.
‘So, we’ve looked at them and we’ll look at them more in detail, but it is quite helpful having played another big French team the week beforehand.’
Kinghorn scored Edinburgh’s second try last weekend. Coming shortly after the interval, it swung the momentum irreversibly in their favour in a second-half performance which oozed composure and authority.
Having also scored against Ireland in last year’s Six Nations on what was his first start for Scotland, he seems to have a habit of producing the goods on the big occasions.
Asked to compare his try last weekend with the one in Dublin, the 21-year-old full-back said: ‘It was massive, especially coming out near the start of the second half.
‘It was a good momentum-shifter that meant we were playing on the front foot straight away in the second half.
‘The skill from Jimmy (James Johnstone) just to let the ball pop up into my arms was a big moment for me personally and I feel like it helped the momentum shift for the team.’
And what of a meeting with former Scotland head coach Cotter?
‘I got invited to train a couple of times when I was at school to fill numbers,’ added Kinghorn. ‘It turned out one of those days was a horrible conditioning session, which wasn’t pleasant.
‘He’s a really good coach. Everyone respects him, but I didn’t work closely enough with him to understand him personally.’