Gareth Thomas backs Blair Kinghorn to shine on late link up with British and Irish Lions Tour
Scotland full-back Blair Kinghorn, who will run out at the Stade de France on Saturday night for the Top 14 final for club side Toulouse against European champions Bordeaux.
Of the 38 players selected by Andy Farrell for the 2025 British & Irish Lions Tour of Australia, 37 are currently Down Under. The exception is Scotland full-back Blair Kinghorn, who will run out at the Stade de France on Saturday night for the Top 14 final for club side Toulouse against European champions Bordeaux.
Even after a stellar Six Nations, in which nominated for Player of the Championship, the lack of availability for the first three matches of the Tour, at least, might count against the Scot. But Gareth Thomas believes otherwise.
The former Wales skipper went through this exact scenario 20 years ago, remaining with Toulouse for the knockouts of the French domestic league and linking up late with the Lions in New Zealand. Despite that, he was able to get up to speed and ended the tour as captain after Brian O'Driscoll was spear-tackled out of the Test series by Tana Umaga and Keven Mealamu.
'It's deemed a little difficult but sometimes joining when the tour is on, is kind of easier than the whole rigmarole and faffing around, doing this and that and getting to know this person or that person,' said Thomas, who has been embarking on the Snowdonia 10 Peak Challenge for Tackle HIV, in a bid to tackle misunderstanding of HIV as well as addressing the stigma around it.
'Sometimes when you are thrown into it and told 'go and play rugby', it's easier. You can't do it as a collective but when you are a small piece of this huge jigsaw, it's nearly complete and allows you to fit in. In a way, for that individual, coming in can be easier because the group is established and all you have to do is establish your little part.
'Even though I captained the team, I captained a team that had gone through the hard work and they allowed me to come in and stand in front and lead them out. The hard work had been done weeks and weeks before.' Thomas and Kinghorn are far from the only examples of players based overseas being called up by the Lions, with Bath fly-half Finn Russell plying his trade at Racing 92 at the time of the last tour.
Some have ducked out of their domestic seasons early, notably Leigh Halfpenny in 2017 when he missed the Top 14 final to fly out to New Zealand. Kinghorn has decided otherwise, and Thomas explained just why he took the exact same decision two decades ago.
He said: 'I made my commitment. There was no way I was going the whole season playing in Toulouse, potentially reach a final and then not play in the final. That is not to say I had a lack of commitment to the Lions, which is once every four years.
'What it said is that I had a huge commitment to Toulouse, who I played for and where I was living every day of my life. It was important that I showed Toulouse what they as a club had done for me, rather than on the flipside saying to the Lions that I don't care, I did.
'For me, to leave was never an option and I totally get it if people do leave their club. But for me, the players you are with every day, you work every day of your life for so many years, to miss out on the big games almost becomes unthinkable as a rugby player.'
Tackle HIV is a campaign led by Gareth Thomas in partnership with ViiV Healthcare, with Terrence Higgins Trust as the charity partner, which aims to tackle the stigma and misunderstanding around HIV. For more information visit tacklehiv.org and follow @tacklehiv
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