Blair Kinghorn v Jonny Gray as French rugby's big night throws up surprise selection

France’s two best teams will clash in Paris on Saturday night and there will be a Scot in each camp as Toulouse and Bordeaux-Bègles contest the Top 14 final.

Toulouse are going for their third championship in a row while Bordeaux have already completed a notable hat-trick; they’ve beaten their final rivals three times this season, twice in the league and also in the Champions Cup semi-final en route to their memorable triumph over Northampton in the final in Cardiff last month.

Two seasoned Scotland internationals are set to take the field at the Stade de France. Blair Kinghorn will start on the wing for Toulouse and second-row forward Jonny Gray has been named on the bench for Bordeaux.

Toulouse's Scottish wing Blair Kinghorn will start the French Top 14 final against Bordeaux-Begles. | AFP via Getty Images

Kinghorn, in his second season in France, is looking to make it back-to-back Top 14 titles after being part of the team that thrashed Bordeaux 59-3 in last year’s final in Marseille. The Scotland full-back, who will link up with the British and Irish Lions squad in Australia after this weekend, missed a chunk of the season with a knee injury but made his comeback last week as he started the Top 14 semi-final against Bayonne. He had to come off after 55 minutes with cramps but is otherwise in good fettle for the final.

Bordeaux have been lifted by the availability of winger Louis Bielle-Biarrey after a “spectacular change” in his concussion symptoms. The France international has scored 33 tries this season for club and country, but has been sidelined since June 7. He was expected to miss the final but has been named in the starting line-up after passing return to play tests.

Bordeaux-Begles' Scottish lock Jonny Gray. | AFP via Getty Images

“At the start of this week, he met a lot of specialists; he scored 10/10 in his neurological tests,” said Bordeaux-Begles head coach Yannick Bru.

Bru said the match was not about avenging last season’s heavy final defeat.

“We understand fully that this match will be presented as a revenge, but we've never talked about revenge,” said the coach. “That means stiffness, anger, things that blind you a little bit.”

The match will be shown live in the UK on Premier Sports 1 from 8pm.