Blair Kinghorn Joins British and Irish Lions in Australia After Toulouse Triumphs

Blair Kinghorn tapped the keycard on his hotel room door at just before midnight on Monday, the long journey from Paris to Dubai to Brisbane now complete, his bed beckoning.

He flicked on the light, threw the bags on the floor and made himself at home. At which point, Maro Itoje popped his head up to say hello.

\"I was thinking 'surely there won't be anyone in the room'. I was like, 'Oh sorry! You were asleep, weren't you?' It was funny. He woke up, shook my hand and then went straight back to sleep.\"

He may have landed a little too unceremoniously for his captain's liking, but the last and one of the most decorated Lions is here now.

It's been quite a season and a half at Toulouse since Kinghorn's move from Edinburgh at the end of 2023. A Champions Cup win over Leinster in 2024 after extra time. He played full-back, kicked four penalties in a narrow win and was on the field for the full 100 minutes.

Next, the Top 14 semi-final and final. Played left wing in both, scored a try in both and made it two trophies in one month and three days, two more than he managed in his previous eight seasons with Edinburgh.

This was fantasy stuff. The thing about dreams is that you normally wake up. Kinghorn is still in that happy place having won another Top 14 title last weekend, again on the wing, again after extra time, again with a 100-minute contribution.

Social media carried a shot of him in the mixed zone at the Stade de France, standing around chatting in his Toulouse-branded underpants, as you do.

After the final the champions got back to their hotel in Paris at 3am Sunday morning, partied, and then Kinghorn headed for the airport. How much sleep did he get? \"Confidential,\" he said, with a smile that told you nothing and yet told you everything.

You'd have expected him to fetch-up for a chat in Brisbane looking a little ropey, but adrenaline was getting him through. These are the best of days for the Scot. At every turn, there's a new adventure.

\"It's been a massive focus on winning the Top 14 with Toulouse,\" he said, at the side of the pitch at the Lions training base in east Brisbane.

\"Our coach Ugo Mola was saying we've had such a great season - stats-wise, we're at the top of everything - but it means nothing if you don't win a trophy. So there was a lot of pressure on us and to win was unbelievable. I'm then straight on a plane. It the Lions feels a bit more real for me now.\"