Mike Blair

For the American football player, see Michael Blair.
Mike Blair
Full name Michael Robert Leighton Blair
Date of birth 20 April 1981
Place of birth Edinburgh, Scotland
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Weight 85 kg (13 st 5 lb)
School Edinburgh Academy
University Durham University
Edinburgh University
Notable relative(s) David Blair, Alex Blair
Rugby union career
Playing career
Position Scrum-half
Amateur clubs
Years Club / team
Edinburgh Academicals
Boroughmuir
Professional / senior clubs
Years Club / team Caps (points)
2002–12
2012–13
2013–15
2015-		 Edinburgh
Brive
Newcastle Falcons
Glasgow Warriors		 157
24
34		 (78)
(5)
(15)
correct as of 12 November 2012.
National team(s)
Years Club / team Caps (points)
2002–12 Scotland
Scotland A
Scotland U21
Scotland U19
Scotland Sevens		 85 (35)
correct as of 18 November 2012.

Michael Robert Leighton Blair (born 20 April 1981 in Edinburgh) is a Scottish rugby union player. He plays professional rugby union as scrum-half for Newcastle Falcons and represented Scotland 85 times, as well as the British and Irish Lions, before retiring in January 2013 aged 31. He formerly played for Edinburgh Rugby from 2001 to 2012 and Brive in 2012-2013.

Early life

He attended the Edinburgh Academy.

International

Blair's international debut came on 15 June 2002 against Canada and scored his first try for his country in the same game.

Blair was a member of Scotland's 2003, 2007 and 2011 World Cup squads.

He was injured playing for Edinburgh against the Llanelli Scarlets in January 2007 and required surgery on his shoulder which prevented him from playing in the entire 2007 Six Nations Championship.

Blair was made captain of his country for the first time against Ireland in the 2008 Six Nations Championship and for the next 12 consecutive games. At the 2008 Six Nations, he captained his squad to a 15-9 victory over England at Murrayfield to win the 2008 Calcutta Cup. He captained the national side 14 times in total.

Blair made his 50th appearance against Argentina in 2008 (2nd test).

Blair was Edinburgh Player of the year in 2006 and 2008, Scotland Pro Team Player of the Year in 2008, and Scotland Player of the Year in 2008. He was nominated for the IRB Player of the Year in 2008, and is the only Scot to have ever been nominated for this award. That year he was included, at number 12, in a list of the 50 best rugby players in the world by The Independent newspaper.

Having been left out of the original Lions touring squad to South Africa in 2009, Blair was called up as a replacement for the injured Tomás O'Leary on 11 May, starting against The Presidents XV and the Southern Kings and coming off the bench against the Sharks.[1]

Mike was included in Scotland's 2011 Rugby World Cup Squad. He scored the first try in the team's first match against Romania on 10 September, a 34-24 victory to Scotland. He started against England later in the tournament winning his 75th cap. Blair earned his final cap before retirement against South Africa in November 2012.

He got 85 caps for his country. He is Scotland's most capped scrum-half of all time.

Club

Blair spent the 2012–13 season playing in France with Brive helping them to gain promotion back to the Top 14.

Blair then returned to the UK to play for the Newcastle Falcons in the English Premiership.

In the 2014/15 season, along with Allister Hogg, Blair became assistant coach of Ponteland Rugby Club.

Personal

He has 3 brothers, David played fly half for Sale Sharks and Edinburgh Rugby between 2007 and 2011, Peter, an accountant, and youngest brother Alex is taking a break from professional rugby, after requiring an operation on his back (he played for Edinburgh Rugby in 2010–11), to study sports science at Edinburgh college.

He is married with two children.

References

  1. ↑ "Blair replaces O'Leary for Lions". BBC Sport. 11 May 2009. Retrieved 11 May 2009.

2. http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/rugby/rugby-union/news-comment/the-50-best-rugby-players-in-the-world-2008-1331516.html?action=gallery&ino=12

External links