Gregor Townsend’s one-time heir apparent returns home to try to outwit Scotland

Mike Blair returns to his hometown this week wearing the silver fern of New Zealand having been appointed the All Blacks’ attack coach in March this year.

Our most capped scrum-half is one of head coach Dave Rennie’s chief lieutenants and will be plotting to outwit Gregor Townsend and co as the Nations Championship resumes with Scotland v New Zealand at Murrayfield.

Blair, 45, has been a long-standing ally of Rennie’s, working first with him at Glasgow Warriors while taking his early steps into coaching. The pair were then reunited in Japan in 2023 when Blair took on the attack coach’s role at Kobe Steelers alongside head coach Rennie.

In between Glasgow and Japan, Blair was an integral part of the Murrayfield coaching set-up. Townsend brought him into the Scotland fold as an assistant and he was appointed interim head coach of the national team for their summer series in 2021.

Blair was denied his chance with Scotland

With Townsend seconded to the British and Irish Lions for their tour of South Africa, it was to Blair that Scotland turned. He was to take charge of the A international against England at Welford Road then lead the squad into Test matches against Romania and Georgia, part of a mini summer tour as sport slowly returned from lockdown.

Unfortunately, Covid outbreaks put paid to all three matches and Blair was denied his chance. He was appointed head coach of Edinburgh a few weeks later and stayed there for two seasons, one good, one difficult.

“He's a brilliant coach,” said Townsend. “Mike started at Glasgow, was obviously an assistant coach and attack coach with us [at Scotland], and has had various experiences since then.

“He had the head coach role at Edinburgh, he's been over in Japan, and he was Dave's first pick as attack coach [for the All Blacks].

“You can see his influence in how they're playing. It'll be a weird one. We caught up with him two or three weeks ago when he was back over on holiday.

“We'll have a good laugh. It'll be strange for him as well as for us seeing him in the opposition coaching box.”

Blair was long considered Townsend’s heir apparent, a natural successor in the Scotland hot seat. His first season at Edinburgh was highly promising. He had them playing with a freedom hitherto hidden under his predecessor, Richard Cockerill. They reached the URC play-offs, finishing above Glasgow and claiming the 1872 Cup, the last time the trophy went east. Season two was more challenging and Blair took a backseat.

Brave decision paid off

He made a big call, deciding the head coach’s life was not for him and expressed his wish to be an attack coach. It was a bold move and a brave one in many respects, giving up a top job and redefining his career trajectory.

It has paid off and Blair is now working with some of the world’s best and brightest talents. His influence has been there for all to see, particularly in the two recent Bledisloe Cup games with Australia, with the All Blacks scoring seven tries in each to get their hands on the oversized trophy.

“What a brilliant opportunity to coach such a great group of players, with the history New Zealand have,” added Townsend. “And he's not the only Scot on the coaching staff. You have Euan Mackintosh as the skills coach. And then there’s Clark Laidlaw, who’s head coach of the Hurricanes, winning Super Rugby this year. Credit to those guys who have left the country and done really well.”

Townsend expects an open game

This will be Townsend’s fourth crack at New Zealand as Scotland’s head coach and, weather permitting, he expects it to be an open game. The previous three meetings all have Scottish hard luck stories attached, with last year’s game at Murrayfield a case in point.

The home side did extraordinarily well to fight back from 0-17 down, drawing level with 20 minutes remaining, and they had all the momentum at that point. But, to quote Beauden Barrett, the All Blacks found a way and the intervention from the bench of Damian McKenzie turned the game back in their favour, the brilliant stand-off scoring a try and a penalty in the final six minutes to win the game for the visitors 25-17.

“Every game is different,” said Townsend. “If we look at the last one, there was a missing ingredient, which was probably control and composure when we created opportunities in the final 20 minutes, particularly from 60 to 70 minutes.

“The players did so well to get back to 17-all, and we were dominating the game. We had opportunities in the next 10 minutes that could have taken us away from New Zealand. We didn't take them.

“Going into the last 10 minutes, it was still 17-all, and they did well to get the pressure and get the win. But this could be a very different game. We might have fewer opportunities, but it's about taking them.

“I think this will be a really open game. New Zealand have been true to their identity, which is playing with width and playing with speed. If the weather's good, it should be tough for defence coaches, but it should mean there are opportunities for both of us to play.

“I think they're in great form. To get an opportunity to play four games against South Africa and be competitive in every Test, and obviously win the first Test, then play so well in the last two games against Australia, shows they're in a better position than they probably were a year ago.”