Exhausted Blair Kinghorn lands Europe's top prize with Toulouse and says own rise is unbelievable

Scotland full-back part of conquering French outfit after extra-time win over Leinster

Scotland full-back Blair Kinghorn is a European champion after his club Toulouse edged out Leinster 31-22 in the Investec Champions Cup at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. The two most successful teams in the competition’s history went toe to toe in a thunderous collision that was scarred by too many errors to be a classic, but was captivating nonetheless.

Despite the perfect conditions neither side were able to score a try until Toulouse’s Matthis Lebel struck early in a period of extra time that created a series of momentum shifts all of its own. The French champions were helped by James Lowe being shown a yellow card for a deliberate knock-on, but that advantage was quickly wiped out when lock Richie Arnold was sent off. Thomas Ramos provided the decisive points, with three penalties taking them out of reach as Toulouse came on strong despite being a man down.

It was hard to endure for the hoards of Leinster fans in the 61,531 crowd, who have now seen their side lose to French opposition in three consecutive finals and whose last sight of silverware was the 2021 United Rugby Championship. But for Kinghorn, who made the switch to the Top 14 outfit back in January, he now has his hands on one of the game’s most coveted prizes.

Toulouse's Scottish full-back Blair Kinghorn (L) is tackled by Leinster's Irish scrum-half Jamison Gibson-Park.

“I'm absolutely exhausted, the boys put in a hell of a shift,” said Kinghorn. “It's unbelievable, I'm lost for words. The boys dug in so deep and that second half of extra-time was enormous from us.

“We talked about staying together. We wanted to do something that had never been done before, six stars. We dug in at the end and we've got the win. If you'd told me in November I'd be a Champions Cup winner, I'd not believe you and now here I am. Proud to be part of this team.”

Toulouse were on the ropes for long spells, yet they made the stronger start by going close to touching down and then creeping ahead through two Kinghorn penalties. Ross Byrne’s penalty rewarded a promising spell for Leinster, who then attacked with precision off a scrum only for Toulouse to show their breakdown expertise for the second of Robbie Henshaw’s two breaks.

That skill also came to the red shirts’ rescue on the half-hour mark after Dan Sheehan had pick-pocketed the ball from Antoine Dupont during a pre-planned move and almost won the race for the line, but Kinghorn made a crucial tackle and Dupont then won the turnover.

Toulouse celebrate on the full-time whistle at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Kinghorn and Byrne exchanged penalties to send Leinster into half-time 9-6 down despite their dominance of territory and possession, as well as every other attacking metric. For all their entries into the opposition 22 they were often leaving empty-handed, making Byrne’s penalty soon after the interval a positive development.

Toulouse showed remarkable resilience as they defended their line in a one-sided third quarter, but the failure to capitalise on a dominant period also highlighted Leinster’s inability to build a score. Kinghorn and Byrne traded kicks once more before three points from replacement Ramos nudged Toulouse in front. Lebel almost crossed in the left corner after the French side attacked with precision off turnover ball. Leinster senior coach Jacques Nienaber was barking commands from the sideline having taken on the role of waterboy and he watched as Ciaran Frawley landed a penalty to take the match into extra time at 15-15.

Toulouse were the first to strike with a simple but effective try for Lebel that showcased the France wing’s lightning pace as they benefited from Lowe’s sin-binning. Ramos converted. Arnold was sent off for a dangerous clearout of Cian Healy and the dismissal galvanised Leinster, who surged downfield for Josh van der Flier to cross from close range with Frawley adding the extras. But Ramos was the next to score with a penalty and the France fly-half coolly proceeded to boot Toulouse out of reach as they scored more points in extra time, 16, than during the 80 minutes.