Hero Blair plays it cool over hat-trick
Cool. That was how Blair Kinghorn described scoring Scotland’s first-ever Six Nations hat-trick, writes Alan Shaw.
He could, with a huge degree of understatement, have been describing the conditions at BT Murrayfield which meant the mercury dipped below zero in the stadium.
But the beam on the sixfoot-four 22-year-old’s face was plain to see when he was told he’d scored his country’s first three-try haul in the championship since Iwan Tukalo’s against Ireland 30 years ago.
“It was awesome. A great performance from the team, couldn’t ask for more than a bonus-point win in the first game of the Six Nations at home. I’m delighted.
“To score any try is brilliant, and I was just lucky to be on the receiving end of some great passing and a great kick from Finn.
“They were my first tries at Murrayfield, so I’m over the moon.”
Kinghorn plays full-back for Edinburgh, but with Hogg filling the 15 shirt for Scotland he’s getting used to winning his caps on the wing.
“I feel comfortable on the wing. I train there quite a lot and I’m getting more games there.
“It’s easy to play there when you have guys like Hoggy and Finn creating opportunities for you. They’re exceptional players, they make life a bit easier.
“I feel I’ve matured since I got my first cap a year ago. In your first cap you run around like a headless chicken, it’s all new to you, but I feel my performances are maturing.”
The last 10 minutes were sobering for Scotland when they lost Simon Berghan to the sinbin and let Italy score three consolation tries.
Kinghorn says: “We’ll be happy with the win today, but come Monday we’ll review the game and see how we can improve because we’ve got a massive game coming up.”