Blair Agrees Glasgow Switch

Photo by Jeff Holmes Scotland's most-experienced scrum-half Mike Blair will return north of the border this summer after agreeing a two-year deal with Glasgow. The former Scotland captain and British and Irish Lion spent 10 years with Edinburgh but after stints with Brive and Newcastle Falcons, he is now heading for Scotstoun, subject to a medical. The move will see the 33-year-old re-united with his former Dark Blues team-mate Gregor Townsend, now Warriors head coach. Blair said: "I'm very excited about moving back to Scotland and joining a very ambitious club. "One of the reasons I'm moving to Glasgow is the opportunity to work with Gregor again. I played with him when I started out with Scotland and he coached me when he was part of the Scotland set-up and that was definitely a big factor in my decision to join the Warriors. My aim is to move into coaching and I see Gregor as being a great role model. "Part of my role will be to help the younger guys develop and it will be good to work closely with the other scrum-halves at the club such as Henry Pyrgos and Grayson Hart. "I had opportunities to stay in England, but I want to make a further contribution to the game in Scotland and eventually make the transition into coaching." With 85 caps to his name, Blair is Scotland's most capped scrum-half and will be returning to Scotland three years after leaving Edinburgh for Brive. His 12-month spell in France was followed by two seasons with Newcastle. Blair captained Scotland on 14 occasions before retiring from international rugby at the start of 2013. He played in three Rugby World Cups and was also part of the 2009 British and Irish Lions squad which toured South Africa. He was named Scotland's Player of the Year in 2008 and is the only Scotsman to have ever been nominated for the IRB International Player of the Year, that same season. He will now give Glasgow extra cover at nine, with Fiji international Nikola Matawalu set to depart for Bath this summer. Townsend added: "It's great news for the club that Mike will be joining us in the summer. "He has been in excellent form and has started most of Newcastle's games this season. "We expect Mike to compete hard for a starting place with our other nines next season and in addition bring a wealth of experience and knowledge to the club."