Life @ EA
tEA it up, Mike Blair, Episode 7
This is a series of 30-minute interviews are with Accies who have been prominent in the world of sport, either on or off the field of play. Throughout the interviews, we will hear about the skills and life lessons they learned at the Edinburgh Academy to help them succeed in their chosen sports role. Whether as a player, a coach, a writer or an administrator, all will reflect on school life in and out of the classroom and their journey through sport as a career.
In episode seven, Charles sits with Mike Blair. Mike Blair is one of the Edinburgh Academy’s most decorated sports stars.
He spent 13 years at the school from 1986-1999. Having started playing rugby at the age of 7, he went onto play for the 1st XV for 3 seasons and captained all the age group teams he played for. Part of a rugby playing family, both his father and grandfather played for the Accies, and he had two rugby-playing brothers with him at school.
After leaving the EA he played for the Academicals before embarking on a stellar career in the professional game. He played for Edinburgh from 2001-2013, and Brive in France for a season. He became Scotland’s most decorated scrum-half with 85 caps, captaining the country on 14 occasions. He was nominated for IRB World Player of the Year in 2008, and toured South Africa with the British and Irish Lions the following summer.
Retiring from the game in 2016, he began his coaching career with Glasgow Warriors, joining the Scotland set-up in 2017. He will be the Interim Head Coach for Scotland’s summer tour where they will play two Test matches against Romania and Georgia.
Series interviewer, Charles Runcie, was a pupil at the Academy, starting in Miss McKenzie’s Prep 4C at Arboretum Road in 1966, through to Mr Robertson’s VIII Mod class at Henderson Row, a decade later. He enjoyed a 34 year career working in sport at the BBC, joining at Radio Scotland’s Queen Margaret Drive in 1982 before heading south in 1987 to Broadcasting House and BBC Sport. He was latterly Head of Sport for English Regions, a role which as a Scot he always thought quite ironic.
If you missed the last episode with Jazz Banks, you can view it here.
