There were fewer than 200 days between Blair Kinghorn joining up with Toulouse and the Scottish full back collecting a top 14 winner’s medal on Friday night to add to his Champions Cup success five weeks earlier.

It has been an incredible year for a player who has inherited the number 15 jersey for the national side and now finds himself in serious conversations for the same slot for the British and Irish Lions tour of Australia in twelve months’ time.

A flawless 100 per cent winning record in his 14 games for Toulouse so far has propelled Kinghorn to new heights with records and personal achievements galore. He notched 23 points as his side smashed Exeter Chiefs in the Champions Cup quarter-finals – the most in any game during his career.

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That match was just one of many that gave him the chance to properly experience what knockout success feels like, winning six out of six with Toulouse. During his eight years with Edinburgh, he played ten times in these types of games, with just a solitary victory – against Bath in a Challenge Cup Round of 16 fixture.

Having become the 19th Scot to win a Champions Cup – scoring more points than any of his countrymen had ever managed in a final – Kinghorn joined some even more exclusive clubs when Toulouse dismantled Bordeaux to lift the Bouclier de Brennus:

  • Fourth Scot to contest a Top 14 final in the professional era.
  • Second Scot to score a try in a Top 14 final in the professional era.
  • Second Scot to win a Top 14 final in the professional era.
  • First Scot to start and win a Top 14 final in the professional era.

The full back must be enjoying being on the other side of positive results against the likes of Leinster, La Rochelle and Bordeaux (none of whom he had beaten before) and even Ulster, where he managed a first win in his last eight attempts. Defeating Toulon was probably not such a big deal – they have always been his bunnies, with a couple of storming wins in 2018/19 for Edinburgh against the French side.

With his club looking utterly dominant – and with the player himself completely at home among some of the world’s finest rugby talents – the sky remains the limit for Kinghorn.

Toulouse players, from left, Thomas Ramos, Blair Kinghorn and Romain Ntamack after their side's victory in the Investec Champions Cup final with Leinster Toulouse players, from left, Thomas Ramos, Blair Kinghorn and Romain Ntamack after their side's victory in the Investec Champions Cup final with Leinster (Image: Getty)

With the full back’s double trophy success, Glasgow Warriors’ URC triumph, Northampton Saints’ Scottish contingent and even Dylan Richardson’s Challenge Cup with the Sharks, there are a significant number of players in and around the Scotland squad who know what it takes to win trophies.

That collective experience could be hugely valuable. Kinghorn’s time at Toulouse is on another level though and the national side need to tap into one of the most capped players in the squad and look for him to lead by example. For the man himself, he will know standing still won’t be good enough to keep his place in an environment as competitive as the six-time European champions.

As he continues to strengthen all aspects of his game there will be ongoing benefits for Scotland. It will also bring Kinghorn ever closer to a shot at the British and Irish Lions’ full back role previously filled by the likes of Ken Scotland, Andy Irvine, Gavin Hastings and Stuart Hogg.