Mike Blair (C) - Player Profile
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Mike Blair - Edinburgh Club Captain
Position - Scrum-half
Weight - 13st 5lb
Height - 5ft 11in
D.O.B. - 20.4.1981
Michael Robert Leighton Blair is first team captain for Edinburgh, Scotland captain and was selected for the 2009 British and Irish Lions. A former pupil of Edinburgh Academy, Blair played club rugby first for Edinburgh Academicals and then for Boroughmuir before joining the professional ranks with Edinburgh in 2002.
The gifted scrum half signed a new contract with his hometown club in December 2007 that will keep him at Edinburgh until 2010 and he has followed that up since by recording his 100th appearance in the black and red and by being named Scotland captain during the 2008 RBS 6 Nations Championship. He was outstanding in Scotland’s victory against France in their opening game of the 2006 RBS 6 Nations, making several searing breaks, and followed that up with another impressive appearance in his next Murrayfield game – the 18-12 defeat of England. He was named as Edinburgh's Player of the Year at the Scottish Rugby Awards Dinner in May 2006.
In November 2004 he made a try-scoring introduction from the bench in the historic 100-8 win against Japan at Perth. In May 2005 he was impressive in Scotland’s first-ever win against the Barbarians at Pittodrie in Aberdeen, setting up Sean Lamont’s try, and he scored two tries in the equivalent match against the invitation club a year later at Murrayfield. He made his Rugby World Cup debut when he started against the USA in 2003. Earlier that year his vision and pace were stamped all over his second try for Scotland, against Italy in the Rugby World Cup Countdown Test. In 2002 he had made a try-scoring debut for Scotland against Canada on the tour of North America. He made that tour after scoring a 60-metre try in the non-cap match against the Barbarians at Murrayfield. He also made a try-scoring appearance as a substitute in Scotland A’s 13-19 defeat by their French counterparts in March 2002. In 2001 he represented Scotland in the IRB Sevens in London, where he was the tournament’s top try-scorer.
He has represented Scottish Schools and Scotland at under-19 and under-21 levels and was part of the Scotland sevens squad at the Manchester Commonwealth Games in 2002.
