Scotland captain Mike Blair has finally been announced as the replacement for injured Tomas O’Leary on the Lions tour, joining Mike Philips and Harry Ellis as the tour scrum halves. Fellow Scot Chris Cusiter was initially rumoured to be the front runner as a replacement but perhaps being stuck on the bench for Perpignan has hurt him (the same could be said for Dwayne Peel), while Blair has been able to take full part in Edinburgh’s recent string of victories. I am sure he will make a full contribution and if he finds the form of the autumn (where he made most of the Springbok team look a little ordinary) he definitely has the class and vision to be the test scrum half.

Well done Mike!