Andy Farrell is hopeful that Blair Kinghorn avoided serious injury during the British and Irish Lions’ win over the ACT Brumbies.
The France-based Scotland star was making just his second appearance of the tour during Wednesday’s clash in Canberra, having joined up with the squad late in Australia after helping Toulouse to successfully defend their Top 14 title.
The versatile Kinghorn had featured on the wing in Saturday’s scrappy 21-10 victory over the New South Wales Waratahs in Sydney, where he has been playing for his club, though reverted to his more familiar international position of full-back against the Brumbies, looking to cement his status as the likely starting Test 15 ahead of the likes of Hugo Keenan and Marcus Smith.
However, the 28-year-old suffered a painful early knock at the GIO Stadium and could not shake it off as he tried to play on, moving uncomfortably before limping off in frustrated fashion after 25 minutes and replaced by Smith, who went on to score the Lions’ third try of the night in a 36-24 victory and then set up the fourth for Garry Ringrose.
Asked for further news on Kinghorn after the game following an initial half-time update from forwards coach John Dalziel, Lions boss Farrell told Sky Sports: “I was just speaking to him then, someone landed on his knee and he felt a little bit of something.
“He’s walking around so hopefully it’s not too serious.”
Farrell would be at pains to lose another key player to injury ahead of the looming Test series against Australia which starts in Brisbane on July 19, having already seen both Tomos Williams and Elliot Daly fly home with tour-ending issues to follow Zander Fagerson being ruled out before the trip.
Daly and Kinghorn both offer significant versatility to the Lions with their ability to cover multiple positions in the backs.
It was a thoroughly mixed display overall from what many believed to be the likely Lions Test team against a spirited Brumbies outfit missing most of their Australian internationals, with steps forward in attack marred by continued problems at the breakdown.
“There was some really good stuff I thought, especially in the first half, there was some really nice, flowing attacking play and a nice tempo,” Farrell said of his side’s performance in Canberra.
“But on the flip side, we kept them in the game a little bit. We dominated field position but we just kept them in with a sniff, especially when you get over the line three times and don’t convert.
“Congratulations to the Brumbies, they came out of the blocks pretty well and stayed in the fight right until the last minute.”
