New Scotland captain backs Blair Kinghorn to deliver at stand-off in team with ten Edinburgh players

Jamie Ritchie, the new Scotland captain, has backed Blair Kinghorn to deliver at stand-off against Australia on Saturday amid the ongoing debate around Finn Russell’s exclusion from Gregor Townsend’s squad for the Autumn Nations Series.

Kinghorn will start at 10 for the fifth Test match in a row as the Scots take on the Wallabies at BT Murrayfield with a side drawn exclusively from home-based players. Russell, a surprise omission from Townsend’s squad, wouldn’t have been available for the Australia game as it falls outside the international window. However, he would have come into connection for the later autumn Tests, against Fiji, New Zealand and Argentina.

Ritchie believes Kinghorn will be able to shut out the noise around Russell’s exclusion and use his personality and talent to step up as an international 10. “It’s water off a duck’s back for him,” said Ritchie. “Blair is a very relaxed guy but he’s also very passionate and he knows a lot about his rugby. I know what he can do. I see him at Edinburgh week in and week out. I see how he leads that team and I know that he can bring that onto the international stage.”

Kinghorn made his first start for Scotland at 10 in the big win over Tonga in last year’s autumn series when Russell was unavailable. The Edinburgh stand-off then displaced Russell in the starting line-up against Ireland in the final match of the Six Nations in March and retained the jersey for the summer tour of Argentina for which Russell was rested. Saturday’s game against Australia represents another huge test for Kinghorn, who was converted from a back three player last year. He has impressed at fly-half for Edinburgh and will have plenty of familiar faces alongside him at Murrayfield as Scotland start with a team featuring ten Edinburgh players, only the second time there have been as many in the national side in the pro era.

Blair Kinghorn trains at BT Murrayfield ahead of Scotland's opening autumn Test against Australia. (Photo by Ross Parker / SNS Group)

Ritchie, captaining Scotland solo for the first time, believes the selection underlines Edinburgh’s progress under coach Mike Blair. “I think it is a fair reflection,” said the flanker. “It was only picked from the guys at Glasgow and Edinburgh. Certainly, being in the Edinburgh environment is a really great place to be. I think we’re pretty clear on where we want to go and how we want to do that, so it Is a credit to Mike and the guys who work hard there every day.”