Blair Kinghorn: Lions full back hobbles off against Brumbies with knee issue
The Lions were banged up by the Brumbies. Tom Curry walked gingerly out of the stadium and Bundee Aki was limping, with fresh tape on his knee.
Kinghorn, the Scotland back-three player, took a bang on his knee eight minutes into the game, and was so frustrated that he slapped the turf at GIO Stadium with his hand. He played on for another 17 minutes, but then departed and was replaced by Marcus Smith.
Andy Farrell, the Lions head coach, has already seen Elliot Daly (broken arm) and Tomos Williams (torn hamstring) leave the tour, but said Kinghorn was in high spirits as he was being assessed.
'You wouldn't know with Blair, he is always in good spirits anyway. He got a bang on the knee, he carried on for quite a bit but there was no need to keep him going,' Farrell said.
'He is on the bed now, singing away. There is a bit of music there and he is singing away as he is being assessed so we will see how he comes through that. It is late, we have an early flight in the morning [to Adelaide] and I don't know what the medical plan is but we will get on top of that.'
Asked if he was concerned about the injury, Farrell said: 'No, not at this moment in time.'
The Lions are thin at full back since Daly left the tour and was replaced by Owen Farrell. Hugo Keenan will play against the Australia & New Zealand Invitational team on Saturday in Adelaide, but has been reaching for form and fitness after suffering an illness last week.
Smith played the remainder of the match at full back, and Farrell said he had some 'really nice touches' there. Generally, Farrell was frustrated at the Lions' inability to solve their issues at the breakdown, where the Brumbies caused them trouble.
'Historically Australia have always gone hard at the breakdown and anyone analyses the way we have been playing, that is what you would do. The pressure at the breakdown is no surprise to us,' Farrell said. 'Sometimes it is a mess, we have got to make sure we keep asking for clarity as far as that is concerned, but first things first we need to look after our own ruck.
'I thought we dominated the game. If you got the game and fast-forwarded through it you would see that and on the back of that we scored some lovely balanced tries but the other side of the story is, we certainly left three out there and maybe more, being held up over the line.
'There is plenty to do, obviously. We are in a good place, in the sense that we are doing well in certain aspects of the game and in fits and starts, but we need to improve in all areas.'
Farrell admitted that the Lions were holding back their true tactical game plan too.
'The same amount as Australia. Probably quite a bit,' he said, when asked how much he was hiding during these low-key tour games. Farrell is sure the Test series, which begins in ten days time in Brisbane, will live up to the billing.
'You wait until everyone comes to terms and see what builds up in regards to the first Test. It's going to be fantastic.'
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