Inside Line: Kinghorn showed why Gregor Townsend wants his speed at fly-half, but will need time to establish himself for Scotland
Scotland’s autumn opener against Australia was always likely to be intriguing and tight, even without the subplot of Gregor Townsend deciding to omit Finn Russell from his squad.
Neither Russell nor Adam Hastings, the other specialist fly-half in Townsend’s party, were available to face the Wallabies anyway, given that the fixture fell outside of World Rugby’s designated Test window. Still, a mixed display from Blair Kinghorn has not dampened debate over the position. Quite the opposite, in fact.
When it comes to assessing the performance of a fly-half, there is one major difficulty. Perhaps more than any other position, one has to take into account the moving parts around them. Take this moment, less than two minutes into the game on Saturday.
Kinghorn is nestled in behind a pod of three forwards as Ali Price feeds Jamie Ritchie: