Brive scrum-half Mike Blair, Scotland's most-capped number nine, is to retire from international rugby after winning 85 caps.
Blair, 31, is bringing down the curtain on a glittering ten-year international career during which he skippered Scotland on 14 occasions, toured with the British and Irish Lions in 2009 and became the only Scottish player thus far to be nominated for IRB World Player of the Year in 2008 to finish as the second most-capped Scottish back of all time.
"I'm in the very fortunate position of being able to decide myself when my international career ends. For me, that time is now," said Blair.
"I have enjoyed immensely representing my country for more than ten years and will miss that exhilarating feeling of running out to a capacity crowd with the whole country behind you.
"The noise when leading the team out for the first time as captain at Murrayfield against England in 2008, when we won 15-9, still makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up when I think about it.
"I want to thank everyone - my family, the Scotland management teams past and present, my team mates and our supporters - for their enormous contribution to my international career. I have been very fortunate to have these people around me.
"There's no doubt that moving our family to France has played a part in my decision. Our son Rory is now at school here and we have an 11-week-old daughter, Lucy, who was born in Brive.
"However, it's a combination of reasons that's led to my standing down from international rugby, not just one factor.
"For me a place in the squad at the Rugby World Cup in 2015 is not a realistic personal target and, with that in mind, it's right for Scottish rugby and the Scotland team, that other players gain experience in a pivotal position."
Scotland's interim head coach Scott Johnson added: "I really enjoyed working with Mike during the summer tour and the more recent autumn Tests."
"There's no doubt he's a quality international rugby player and a quality bloke. I respect and understand his decision to retire from the international game now and, on behalf of all Scotland fans, thank him for his years of dedication to the national team."
Comments
Michtymauler says...
Blair was a great player and then lost form a bit after injuries. He was unfortunate to be playing at a time when he had stiff competition from Cussiter and Lawson. Mostly from Cussiter. He did regain form again latterly and played well against the ABs.. He's playing in the 2nd Division in France and in reality, you can't have a pivotal player and potential captain of your national team in that situation. It's a loss of experience for Scotland but Blair knows more about the situation at Murrayfield and probably wants to get out before the SRU debacle of a setup spirals even more out of control on a downward motion!!! Great player in his peak.
Posted 17:07 08th January 2013
melkdave says...
A good servant of scottish rugby,but i do feel he has done the right thing tbh,The last few year idont feel he has been at his best forScotland.Annother who should also retire is R.Ford imo,his now more of a liability than an asset ,and his form this year has been terrible to say the least.as it was the year before.
Posted 16:05 08th January 2013
kybone says...
rugby_rockstar - 'He was making breaks like Ben Youngs does since before we had even heard of the Leicester scrum half'- Well that only stands to reason when you consider that he's about 7 years older than ben Youngs.
Posted 13:55 08th January 2013
thistle_dave says...
Quality player. We've been mediocre in a lot of ways for the last few years, but Scotland have had a steady stream of world-class, or at least Lions-class scrum halves for more or less the last 30 years: Roy Laidlaw - Armstrong - Redpath - Blair/Cussiter. Given that Cussiter is a bit long in the tooth now as well, not quite sure where the successor is - Pyrgos isn't quite the same class. Greig Laidlaw is - would like to see him back at 9 and have Weir get more gametime at 10
Posted 13:16 08th January 2013
porridge_time says...
Class player, just unfortunate to have spent a decade in a mediocre Scottish test team.
Posted 11:54 07th January 2013
rugby_rockstar says...
He should have got more caps. I'd pick him over Cussiter any day of the week. He was making breaks like Ben Youngs does since before we had even heard of the Leicester scrum half. A joy to watch.
Posted 11:14 07th January 2013