Following victories over the Scarlets, Ulster and neighbours Glasgow, Edinburgh, who have named an unchanged squad for the trip to Wales, have climbed to fifth spot in the Magners League standings and are only four points behind second-placed Cardiff Blues. 26-year-old Blair, who scooped the man-of-the-match award following the team’s thrilling 35-31 win over Glasgow on 28th December, says he refuses to get carried away by Edinburgh’s recent purple patch in form.
Blair said: “I think we have to be careful not to get ahead of ourselves. We have won four out of our last five games which is really pleasing at this time of the season because we have had some really hard games. I don’t think we should get carried away by saying ‘we are going to win the league’, but if we keep on building on our performances then hopefully we will finish near the top of the table by the end of the year.”
The Scotland international scrum-half believes the dramatic climax to the side’s previous win over Glasgow highlighted the growing belief in the ranks when they managed to achieve a positive result;Â even though they were facing defeat with five minutes of the contest remaining.
He said: “It was a funny game; we scored a couple of breakaway tries in the first half and I think at 21-6 up we should have put them away, but unfortunately they got back into the game with a silly penalty we gave away and the first try after the break.
“With five minutes to go, we were in real trouble when they scored, but our comeback was a sign of what we’ve been doing over the past few months. We have got a potent attacking team, so we knew that, even with five minutes left to go, it was possible for us to score a try and win the game.”
Whilst the Cardiff Blues boast a constellation of stars in their revered back line, Blair thinks Edinburgh’s lack of household names will work in their favour as the side looks to close the gap on the league leaders, Leinster. He added: “They have got a lot of experienced and talented guys in their side, but then so do we. We are more of an unknown quantity, but I’m sure it will be an exciting game.”
Edinburgh Squad to play Cardiff Blues:
15 Ben Cairns
14 Andrew Turnbull
13 Nick De Luca
12 John Houston
11 Simon Webster
10 Phil Godman
09 Mike Blair
01 Allan Jacobsen
02 Ross Ford
03 Gavin Kerr
04 Matt Mustchin
05 Ben Gissing
06 Allister Hogg (captain)
07 Ross Rennie
08 David Callam
Replacements:
Andrew Kelly
Augusto Allori
Craig Hamilton
Roland Reid
Ben Meyer
David Blair
Hugo Southwell
