Even Blair Kinghorn has admitted his move to Toulouse came as a bolt from the blue just weeks after Scotland had been dumped out of the Rugby World Cup.
But almost a year on, the Scotland fullback is now a Champions Cup and Top14 winner having completed the double in his first season and is yet to lose a match with the rouge et noir.
Lifting the European title was “dream come true”, Kinghorn told me after they beat Leinster in May, with the former Edinburgh Academy pupil contributing dozen points from the tee – the most by a Scotsman in a Champions Cup final.
He also scored a try in the Top 14 final demolition of Bordeaux Begles to cap an incredible first six months in France.
The move has been an unmitigated success story for Kinghorn, who is now undoubtedly one of the first names in Gregor Townsend’s Scotland team when fit and available.
I will confess to not being convinced he would get as regular a starting berth as he has, with Toulouse also able to call upon France duo Matthis Lebel and Thomas Ramos – the latter one of the world’s best in Kinghorn’s preferred position – plus Argentina cap Juan Cruz Mallia and Italy star Ange Capuozzo.
At times last season, Kinghorn’s performances resigned Ramos to a spot on the bench. It was only towards the business end of the season that head coach Ugo Mola shifted the Scotsman to the wing to accommodate the French fullback’s metronomic placekicking.
Kinghorn, rested by Scotland for the summer tour, started this season with a bang, setting up two tries as Toulouse kicked off their Top14 title defence with a 48-13 thrashing of Vannes on Sunday evening.
Look at that pass from Blair Kinghorn! 😍
— Premier Sports (@PremSportsTV) September 8, 2024
Thomas Ramos scores Toulouse's opening try 👏 pic.twitter.com/xWOIt2INbZ
There are risks with moving outside of Scotland. Kinghorn’s game-time is not as managed as it would have been had he remained with Edinburgh, while he has to travel between France and national team camps during the ‘fallow’ Six Nations weeks.
Others have found the going tough, but Kinghorn appears – on and off the field – to have settled in right away. That Toulouse’s ‘galacticos’ squad has several other English speakers will have helped his integration into their squad.
If this form persists – and there are no signs of it stopping any time soon – Kinghorn would deserve to come into consideration for next year’s British and Irish Lions tour to Australia.
His running game rivals Ireland’s Hugo Keenan – who will be the front-runner with his national team boss Andy Farrell chosen to lead the Lions’ trip Down Under.
Kinghorn can kick at goal, offers flexibility given he can play at fullback, on the wing or at fly-half – though the jury remains out around whether he could fill that role at Test level after a failed experiment to move him there during Mike Blair’s time as Edinburgh head coach – and he’s good in the air.
That aerial ability will be given a severe examination when the Springboks visit Scottish Gas Murrayfield in November, while the Wallabies might get another first-hand experience of Kinghorn’s attacking prowess.
They have already seen it up close, with Kinghorn – wearing the number 10 jersey – showing his pace to sprint clear when the sides met at Murrayfield in 2022.
The past 12 months have gone a long way to establishing Kinghorn alongside Zander Fagerson and Finn Russell as one of Scotland’s most valuable players.
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