Kinghorn’s triple sees Scotland end Six Nations on a high
Scotland prevail 26-14 over Italy and secure third place in the Guinness Six Nations Championship.
Tries from Duhan van der Merwe and a hat-trick for Blair Kinghorn including a beauty at the end left Italy winless for yet another Championship despite a Tommaso Allan score and penalties from the full-back and Paolo Garbisi.
In recent times, the BT Murrayfield crowd has become stubborn, forcing this current crop of players to graft and earn its respect.
Unlike like so-called ‘HQ’ in Twickenham, this crowd will never fall out of love with its team. The relationship between fan and player has become unbreakable over the tumultuous decades that are the ups and downs of Scottish Rugby.
Much like any love life, the Murrayfield masses require a spark, some spontaneity to remain invested in supporting its other half.
After 13 minutes, enter Scotland’s favourite South African import, Duhan van der Merwe. The 6ft3 Edinburgh player, criticised for his defensive work against Ireland, silenced his critics in the same way he stifled the cries of the Azurri fans around Scotland’s national stadium.
Perhaps there is still time for a possible career change to gymnastics on the line as the winger soared through the air, beating defenders and the touchline to score Scotland’s opening of the game.
Murrayfield approved. With the absence of Stuart Hogg and Finn Russell, the crowd turned to the winger to conjure up moments of magic.
As one relationship enjoys the fruits of its labours after periods of waver, by contrast, the travelling Azurri continue to be let down after signs things were going to improve.
Last year’s triumphs against Wales and Australia gave the Italians hope that their sacrifice and graft that supporting a rugby team requires were going to be rewarded.
This was not the case, after a promising start with Allan slotting two penalties, the forwards stopped holding up their end of the bargain and gave away multiple penalties at the scrum and Danilo Fischetti was eventually punished with a trip to the sin bin.
10 minutes before half-time, Kinghorn, previously punished for his performances in the 10 jersey by both the press and public, was welcomed over the try line by a wall of tartan roars.
It’s a love/hate relationship between the fans and Kinghorn at fly-half and after his early misses from the tee, the short memory of fans meant they’d fallen in love with the man who had played second fiddle to Hogg in previous rounds of the championship.
BT Murrayfield has a long way to go before it can be said that the crowd is worthy of the title of a ‘16th man.’ But it is getting there.
Less than five minutes after the break, Scotland found themselves deep in the Italian 22 trying to unlock their third try of the match but it would take more than a few forwards rucking towards the whitewash to see the crowd pile in.
Murrayfield applauds and approves of expansive rugby and it is what Kinghorn delivered as he scored his second try of the afternoon. The crowd bellowed with delight after the 26-year-old split the Italian defenders to add to to the home side’s points tally.
As the third quarter rolled on, a numb blanket fell over the crowd. Much like a small child, rugby crowds need a constant source of entertainment or they lose interest and fall silent.
Allan rudely awoke the crowd as the Harlequins player snuck over the line in the same place van der Merwe scored the opener.
The scattering of pipers around the stands did their best to rejuvenate the crowd but Garbisi’s penalty to reduce the deficit to 5 points, saw the tunes snuffed out.
On came Ben Healy for his first cap and Cameron Redpath, once hailed as the future of this side after his performance at Twickenham in 2021. This switch-up, combined with Ali Price’s sensational scamper, finally gave the crowd something else to cheer about.
Five minutes to go, Scotland up by five and the Italians knocking on the doors of a historic upset, Murrayfield found its true voice. A mighty turnover and a solid scrum saw the Scots victorious. They assumed the ball would sail out the back of the pitch, for the Scots were dreaming of the bonus point.
Van der Merwe streaked clear of the Italian defenders and found who else but Kinghorn on his inside in support who raced away from the Azurri to score under the posts and conclude Scotland’s Six Nations campaign in the same fashion it began, with Jamie Ritchie lifting silverware.
The Azurri end this campaign much like it started against France, with the bitter taste of defeat much like a morning coffee that has been percolated with beans lacking the qualities of a premium roast.
Scotland finally have a team that is worthy of thunderous praise and respect from its fans. Finishing third in this year’s championship behind the top two teams in the world should be celebrated all night long. The World Cup looms but for now, the Scottish fans are head over heels with this crop of players.
