Kinghorn could do nothing but stop the match mid-action, dummying a pass inside to No 8 Jack Dempsey upon realising that the ball was completely flat. 

It is a good job that the Scottish full-back raised his hand to stop play, otherwise he would not have been the only thing to have had the wind knocked out of it. French blindside flanker Paul Boudehent was tearing down on him, full-throttle, and thankfully was aware of Kinghorn’s plea.

“I’ve never seen that! exclaimed former England scrum-half, Dewi Morris, on commentary. “He’s kicked the life out of the ball. I’ve never seen that! Have you?”

France were made to work hard for their victory after last week’s narrow loss in Murrayfield – albeit with a much-changed side. 

Fabien Galthié recalled the big guns on Saturday night with both teams almost at full strength. France led by 17 points at one stage thanks to tries from Romain Ntamack, Damian Penaud and Charles Ollivon, but Scotland fought back to tie the scores with seven minutes to play, with Kyle Steyn, Duhan van der Merwe and Rory Darge all crossing. A late Thomas Ramos penalty assured the World Cup favourites snuck home, however.