Blair to go full Hogg for Edinburgh skipper Ally

SCOTLAND rugby skipper Mike Blair today offered full backing to his Edinburgh counterpart Ally Hogg – starting with tonight's Magners Celtic League clash against Connacht at Murrayfield.

While Blair's success in piloting Scotland to a Calcutta Cup triumph over England in the highlight of the recent Six Nations series might have provoked temptation to keep him at the helm for domestic matches, the scrum half is happy to put his experience at Hogg's disposal.

Blair said: "I hope the experiences I have had with Scotland can be brought to the Edinburgh games coming up."

Many followers believe a break from the rigours of leading the national side will benefit all parties and, what's certain, is that Blair hopes his days of being first up the tunnel are far from over.

"Of course, I would like to keep the Scotland captaincy but rugby is a team game, so it comes down to whatever is best for the team.

"I don't find it a massive difference having the letter 'c' bracketed against my name. You toss a coin and you make a post-match speech. A lot of things that happen on the pitch are fairly similar whether or not I'm a captain. Being a scrum half sees to that and I didn't feel any extra pressure."

While Blair might not have felt pressure at the end of a campaign in which he was hailed as an exception to the general rule which had few Scots earning pass-marks, the same cannot be said of coach Frank Hadden.

Here Blair remains supportive of his former Edinburgh boss, saying: "All the players are behind Frank, who has been very good to me over my time as a professional rugby player. Of course, I'll back him all the way." Those remarks were an echo of views held by Hogg who, drawing on the experience of a 43-cap international career, saw scope for the domestic game to start thinking of moving forward with Edinburgh at the core.

One source of evolution being mooted is to use matches such as tonight's as a vehicle through which qualification for the premier European Cup can be achieved.

This contrasts with the present situation where eight out of ten teams automatically go through with a further play-off spot against Italian opposition possible. On top of that, Scotland are guaranteed places for both teams.

That latter situation is something Hogg says should stay for the next "two or three years", as agreed, but he admitted: "It would be a good thing to use the Celtic League placings as a qualifier for Europe. That would provide more to fight for, although it is always the case we want to perform as well as possible."

Altogether there are nine players who appeared in Scotland's Six Nations matches, including Blair and Hogg, back for Edinburgh tonight.

Another is full back Hugo Southwell, who calls for the returnees to waste no time in making an impact while taking their cue from the qualities shown over the past seven weeks by Blair.

Southwell said: "Mike has gone on to another level with his performances and, ultimately, when your captain is doing that then it brings the rest of the team on."

Backs coach Rob Moffat, having shared in the homework done on Connacht, says everyone will need to be firing.

"A 49-31 win over Connacht last season at Murrayfield shouldn't be allowed to disguise the fact they scored four tries."

Connacht's measure is the fact they ran leaders Leinster to a single-score margin last time out and Moffat reckons they are a potential banana skin. He said: "Connacht tend to be the so-called whipping boys but to think that way is dangerous. People think of them as stuffy but those four tries last year disproved that."

Forewarned is forearmed, though, and Moffat reckons head coach Andy Robinson has pointed everyone in the right direction so far as achieving the win that could propel Edinburgh from fifth to third in the table is concerned.

Moffat added: "They have a fair idea how we want to play. They are going to feed off our mistakes which is kind of natural. We will be alert, very conscious of that."

Soon-to-retire Connacht winger Matt Mostyn harbours European ambitions of his own – even if he wouldn't be around to take part. The 33-year-old Aussie said: "To get into the Heineken Cup has always been on the agenda while I've been with Connacht and, if I could help them achieve that in my last few games, I'd be absolutely delighted."

Connacht would need to overhaul Ulster on the run-in and Edinburgh have been warned.