Blair Kinghorn marks first start of season with a try in hard-fought win but Toulon troubles go on
Toulouse move up to second place in Top 14
Blair Kinghorn marked his first start of the season with a try as Toulouse secured a hard-fought victory over newly promoted Vannes.
Playing at full-back, the Scotland international notched the final score in the 29-23 away win at Roazhon Park.
Vannes had stormed into a 13-0 lead after 20 minutes but were gradually reeled in by the champions whose other tries came from Paul Graou, Santiago Chocobares and Teddy Thomas, the latter created by Kinghorn.
Kinghorn, who was not involved in Scotland’s Nations Championship games in the summer, came off the bench for the final 15 minutes of Toulouse’s win over Bordeaux last week and then played the full 80 against Vannes.
The win moves Toulouse up to second place after three rounds, while Vannes remain rooted to the bottom on zero points.
No joy for Jones or White
Toulon’s tricky start to the season continued as they suffered their third narrow defeat in a row. With Scotland duo Ben White and Huw Jones both starting, Toulon went down 29-27 at Castres where a problem with the video replay system proved costly.
Castres’ Adam Vargas scored a try before half-time but had stepped on the touchline before touching down. The try was awarded by referee Tual Trainini without consulting the video replay, with the system malfunctioning throughout the match.
Hamish Watson, the former Edinburgh flanker, replaced Feibyan Tukino in the first half to help Castres to victory.
Toulon, who are second bottom, will host Vannes this Saturday as they look to kick-start their campaign with a first win.
Scots trio Stuart Hogg, Ali Price and Alex Masibaka all came off the bench for Montpellier in their 50-13 home win over Perpignan. Hogg kicked two conversions after replacing former Glasgow Warriors fly-half Domingo Miotti.
Montpellier, runners-up last season, are up to fifth. They play Toulouse on Sunday in a repeat of June's Top 14 final.
Lyon are top of the table following their 51-25 home win over Pau who had Baptiste Pesenti red-carded for a dangerous tackle. Elsewhere, La Rochelle lost 20-10 at home to Racing 92, Bayonne beat Clermont 46-24 and Bordeaux moved up to third with a convincing 40-10 victory over Stade Francais at Stade Chaban-Delmas.
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