Blair Kinghorn: Toulouse move confirmed, Edinburgh to receive six-figure fee, why he was allowed to leave

Blair Kinghorn’s move to Toulouse has been confirmed and the Scotland full-back will leave Edinburgh to join the French club on a three-season deal after next week’s URC match against Ulster, subject to a medical.

Toulouse-bound Blair Kinghorn won his 50th Scotland cap against Ireland at the recent Rugby World Cup in France. (Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images)

Edinburgh will receive a six-figure release fee from the Top 14 side because the player’s contract does not expire until the end of the season. Sean Everitt, the coach, said the cash would be reinvested in the club.

Kinghorn, 26, has been with his hometown team since leaving school but will now join one of the stellar names in world rugby where he will count the likes of Antoine Dupont, Romain Ntamack and Thomas Ramos as team-mates. All being well, Kinghorn will play two more matches for Edinburgh; Friday’s home game against Benetton and the away match against Ulster a week on Saturday. He said it would be a wrench to leave but that joining the French champions was too good an opportunity to turn down.

“This has been a really tough decision,” Kinghorn said. “I’ve called this place home for nine years and have massive loyalty to this club. It gave me everything in my career so far and was the start of my professional rugby journey. I feel like they’ve really got the best out of me. Joining Toulouse is an opportunity that’s come forward that I think will be good for me as a person, and to develop my career and my game. It’s a big decision, but I feel like it’s the right move for me.

“I’m really grateful to Edinburgh, for seeing this as a great opportunity for me to develop personally and as a rugby player, but it is still going to be a sad day.”

Everitt, who took over from Mike Blair in the summer, said last month that he felt the versatile Kinghorn could “potentially become one of the best full-backs in the world”. His departure will leave a big hole but Edinburgh have quality options in the back three, most notably Duhan van der Merwe, Darcy Graham, Wes Goosen and Emiliano Boffelli. While the first three are orthodox wingers, Boffelli is equally comfortable at full-back and is likely to be utilised there when he returns from a toe injury after Christmas.

Everitt felt the club couldn’t stand in the 50-times capped Kinghorn’s way, particularly when he had indicated he wanted to leave at the end of the season.

“Blair is an Edinburgh boy through and through, a home-grown club centurion and Scotland internationalist – he’s certainly the type of quality player we’d have liked to retain,” said the coach. “His intention to leave at the end of his current contract certainly played a part in our decision to agree to his premature release, as well as our well-documented strength and depth in the back-three.

“It was on that basis, we agreed reluctantly to this release in return for payment of a significant sum from Toulouse, which we’ll now consider carefully how best it can be reinvested in the club. We wish Blair all the very best in his new challenge in France and thank him for his commitment to the club.”

Kinghorn, who has played 137 times for Edinburgh since joining in May 2015, paid tribute to the supporters. “The Edinburgh fans have backed me through thick and thin,” he said. “There’s been some sticky moments in my career, and they’ve always stuck by me. That’s always something I appreciated.”