Mike Blair

For the American football player, see Michael Blair.

Mike Blair

Full name	Michael Robert Leighton Blair
Date of birth	20 April 1981 (1981-04-20) (age 30)
Place of birth	Edinburgh, Scotland
Height	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Weight	13 st 5 lbs (85 kg)
School	Edinburgh Academy
University	Durham University 1999-2000, Edinburgh University 2000-2002
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)
	Edinburgh Rugby
correct as of 4 January 2010.
National team(s)
Years	Club / team	Caps	(points)
2002–present	Scotland Scotland A Scotland U21 Scotland U19 Scotland Sevens	75	(35) (7t)
correct as of 19 October 2011.

Michael Robert Leighton Blair (born 20 April 1981 in Edinburgh) is a Scottish rugby union footballer.

He plays professional rugby union as scrum-half for Edinburgh Rugby and represents Scotland.

He attended the Edinburgh Academy.

He has 3 brothers, the oldest Peter does not play rugby (although he has also achieved international honours as a prize winning tax accountant) but his brother David formerly played at fly half for Edinburgh Rugby between 2007 and 2011. His youngest brother Alex is currently taking a break from professional rugby (he played for Edinburgh Rugby in 2010-2011) after sustaining a lower back injury.

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 made captain of his country for the first time against Ireland in the 2008 RBS 6 Nations Championship and for the next 12 consecutive games.

He has over 70 caps for his country making his 50th appearance against Argentina in 2008 (2nd test) with the latest being against England in Scotland's final pool game of the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand.

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 RBS 6 Nations Championship. His comeback game was against Ireland in the World Cup warm up game at Murrayfield.

He was Edinburgh Player of the year in 2006 and 2008, Scotland Pro Team Player of the Year in 2008, Scotland Player of the Year in 2008 and was nominated for the IRB International Rugby Player of the Year in 2008. He is the only Scot to have ever been nominated for this prestigious award.

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 Blair was included in Scotland's 2011 Rugby World Cup Squad and scored the first try in the team's first match against Romania on 10 September. The result was a 34-24 victory to Scotland. He started against England later in the tournament winning his 75th cap. He is Scotland's most capped scrum-half of all time.

References

1. ^ "Blair replaces O'Leary for Lions". BBC Sport. 11 May 2009. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/rugby_union/8018225.stm. Retrieved 11 May 2009. 

External links

• Scotland profile

Persondata
Name	Blair, Mike
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	20 April 1981
Place of birth	Edinburgh, Scotland
Date of death
Place of death