Giant full-back Kinghorn is emblematic of Edinburgh’s youthful swagger
BLAIR KINGHORN is not sure how tall he is. He is a head higher than many in the Edinburgh squad and his club stats say 6ft 4in but, the thing is, he reckons he is taller now than he was a few months ago.
Kinghorn returns to action against the Newport Gwent Dragons today as one of a core of young talent seeking to restore optimism to the camp.
He turned 19 in January and fits into a back three alongside Damien Hoyland (22) and 25-year-old ‘veteran’ Tom Brown. Sam Hidalgo-Clyne (22) will call the shots at scrum-half, and today’s back rows Jamie Ritchie and Hamish Watson are just 19 and 24 respectively.
Alongside the likes of Ben and Alex Toolis, Rory Sutherland, George Turner, all 23, Chris Dean and Nathan Fowles, 22, and Magnus Bradbury (20) it is fair to assume the best is yet to come at Edinburgh.
This time last year Kinghorn was at Edinburgh Academy preparing for final exams and dreaming of a career in rugby.
Now, he is preparing for
his 13th pro appearance firmly at the coal face of Edinburgh’s battle for a top-six finish in the Guinness PRO12 and a place in next season’s European Champions Cup.
‘Everything has just happened really quickly,’ he acknowledged.
‘From the whole being at school and then having the chance to go and play in the Junior World Cup in Italy, to never thinking that I’d have the chance to play for Edinburgh this season as much as I have.’
Kinghorn has impressed to the point that, after helping Scotland to a famous Under-20s win over England in February, he was called back by Edinburgh head coach Alan Solomons, thus missing the rest of the championship. Kinghorn will play for Scotland in this year’s Junior World Championship in June and, when he returns to the capital, will have new rivals in Glenn Bryce and Duncan Weir arriving from Glasgow. He likes stand-off, but is happy that Solomons wants to develop him first at fullback.
Solomons enthused: ‘He’s an exceptionally good footballer and he’s got deceptive pace. He’s got a good boot, both out of hand and off the floor.
‘He’s a very intelligent boy with a good temperament. Bear in mind this kid was at school last year, and probably came in earlier than I’d anticipated.’
The youngster seems to be enjoying the pressure as Edinburgh seek to turn a spate of narrow losses this year into a run of end-of- season wins, and he continues to grow — on and off the park.
Edinburgh (v Newport Gwent Dragons at Rodney Parade, 2.30pm, live on BBC Alba): Kinghorn; Hoyland, Allen, Beard, Brown; Burleigh, Hidalgo-Clyne; Dickinson, Ford (capt), Nel, Bresler, B Toolis, Ritchie, Watson, Du Preez.
Subs: McInally, Sutherland, Andress, A Toolis, Bradbury, Kennedy, Dean, Fife.
Dragons: Meyer; Hewitt, Morgan, Warren, Amos; Jones, Pretorius; Price, Rhys Thomas (capt), Harris, Hill, Landman, Evans, Cudd, Faletau.
Subs: Gustafson, Stankovich, Fairbrother, Screech, Jackson, Davies, O’Brien, Hughes.
Referee: G Clancy (IRFU).