The British and Irish Lions have received a welcome injury boost over Blair Kinghorn as their Test series against Australia approaches.
The Scotland full-back suffered a knee problem during the early stages of Wednesday’s 36-24 win over the ACT Brumbies in Canberra and cut a frustrated figure as he limped off after only 25 minutes having initially tried to play through the issue.
Lions head coach Andy Farrell expressed optimism after the game that Kinghorn’s injury - sustained after being landed on during the opening exchanges at GIO Stadium - was not serious, having revealed that he was singing and in good spirits while being assessed by medical staff in the dressing room.
Farrell then confirmed at his pre-match press conference ahead of Saturday’s final warm-up fixture against an AUNZ Invitational XV in Adelaide that Kinghorn was “not too bad” and being sent for a scan, hoping to have good news by the time he returned to the team hotel on Thursday.
The Lions have now confirmed that Kinghorn “received positive news” from his scan and would return to training over the coming days, managed closely by the medical team.
Farrell has still taken the opportunity to add some additional training cover to his squad in the form of versatile Leinster back Jamie Osborne, who will fly to Brisbane on Saturday after leaving the Ireland camp ahead of their match in Portugal. He played the full 80 minutes of a weakened Ireland’s 34-5 win over Georgia in Tbilisi last weekend.
Farrell said of Kinghorn earlier on Thursday: “Blair is okay, he's not too bad. He's actually gone for a scan as we speak now, so we're waiting as regards to the news on that, but the same as he always is.
"Like I said yesterday, he's in good spirits, so we'll wait and see what the outcome is of that.
"I don't think it's as bad as what could have been. It was something innocuous really, just a rugby accident that was unfortunate, so fingers crossed when we get back to the hotel that we get some good news."
If Kinghorn is able to resume training in the days ahead, he should still be in the running to feature in the First Test against Australia at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium next Saturday (July 19), having been considered as the front-runner to start at full-back.
The 28-year-old only joined up with the Lions squad last week after helping Toulouse to retain their Top 14 title in France, starting out on the wing - where he has been playing for his club - in the scrappy 21-10 win over the New South Wales Waratahs in Sydney last weekend, before then moving to full-back against the Brumbies.
Kinghorn likely wouldn’t have played any part against the AUNZ Invitational XV this weekend anyway, with Hugo Keenan - his main rival for the No15 shirt against the Wallabies - starting at full-back at the Adelaide Oval, with Marcus Smith on the bench.
Owen Farrell has also been named among the replacements for that match as he gets set for the first action of his fourth Lions tour, with Tadhg Beirne captaining for the second time on this trip with regular skipper Maro Itoje rested.
The Lions have already lost two players to tour-ending injuries since arriving Down Under last month in Tomos Williams and Elliot Daly, who were replaced by Ben White and Owen Farrell respectively.
They also drafted in Finlay Bealham after fellow tighthead prop Zander Fagerson suffered a calf injury ahead of departure, with the likes of England trio Jamie George, Jack van Poortvliet and Asher Opoku-Fordjour having also all spent time with the Lions in a training capacity before their trip to Australia.
