MIKE Blair’s considerable energy will be put to the test next season when he takes up a new role as skills coach with Scotland as well as continuing his work as an assistant at Glasgow Warriors.

The 36-year-old has risen rapidly through the coaching ranks, impressing colleagues with the quality of his tactical insight as well as his hard work.

But, at the end of his first full season after hanging up his boots as a player, he is well aware that he remains a novice - and is sure that working with national head coach Gregor Townsend and incoming Glasgow coach Dave Rennie will position him ideally to continue to learn quickly.

“The thing for me at this stage of my career is I’ve got one year’s coaching under my belt, and the opportunity to continue to work and build my relationship with Gregor through Scotland and have experience of coaching at that level is something that I’m really keen to do,” Blair said.

“From a club point of view, the opportunity to work with Dave Rennie [and Glasgow assistant coaches] Jason O’Halloran and Jonathan Humphreys is brilliant learning for me. Hopefully that’s going to give me a good kickstart to my coaching career. I feel I’ve got lots to offer at the moment to both Scotland and Glasgow, but from a learning point of view as well it means that the extra work is definitely going to be worth it because of what I’ll learn from the two different camps.”

A mere three years have passed since Blair, then a Newcastle Falcons player, began coaching as a volunteer with local club Ponteland. His swift and smooth progress since then might make you think that he had a coherent career path mapped out all along, but he insisted that in a volatile profession he could not afford to make long-term plans even if he wanted to.

“I was very much of an attitude ‘let’s see how things go’,” he said of that beginning in the north-east of England. “Some coaches have started in different ways, with academy systems or at Premiership level with Melrose or Ayr for example.

“I was really keen to get involved with Gregor and Glasgow because of their success, and the culture and environment they’ve created there. I signed a two-year contract, one year’s playing and one coaching: that gave me a foot up into it, and I’ve really enjoyed it.

“In the coaching industry you can’t look too far ahead. At the moment it’s all about trying to be as good a coach as I can be, and that’s going to happen through experience, through time in the saddle making the most of my learnings.

“I have a two-year contract that takes me up until just before the World Cup. That will give Gregor an opportunity to change things if he feels appropriate, and I’ll ask how things have gone for me. It would be harder to do both roles during World Cup year if Gregor did ask me to do both.

“In the contract, the fractions we used were three-eighths with Scotland and five-eighths with Glasgow. There’s a Scotland window around internationals, plus there will be days when I’ll be part of the review process, but the rest of the time I’ll be with Glasgow.”  

Former team-mates of Blair’s tend to praise the speed with he comes to terms with new situations in games, and that ability combined with his intelligence and his past as an international appears to have marked him out as someone who could go on to be a truly outstanding coach. Again, however, rather than look that far ahead, he prefers to concentrate on the near future, and on how vital it will be to his development.

“I’m pleased with my progress, but I feel I’ve got a long way to go,” he said. “This two years is really key for me, because at the start of your career is where you get most of your learning from. I’m aware I need to keep improving.”

Blair can expect to have little spare time left after his Scotland and Glasgow duties, but some of it will be devoted to RBS Rugby Force, a community initiative which aims to help clubs attract new members and become more sustainable businesses. There will be activities across the country on the weekend of 12-13 August to promote the scheme, and clubs can apply to have Blair and former Warriors captain Al Kellock offer their expertise.

“All professional players, all international players, have started from somewhere, and that’s the grass roots,” Blair said. “So if we in Scotland can improve that from a business point with Al, or from a participation and coaching point of view with me, that will have a big impact in future, hopefully.

“We’re the two ambassadors this year, helping out with ideas on and off the pitch. That weekend in August is going to be the big one for us, then the club that presents its plans the best is the one where Al and I will find ourselves. That will be where we feel we’re able to make the biggest impact

“We’re like Alan Sugar. Or I can be Duncan Bannatyne and Al can be Theo Paphitis. Hopefully we’ll make some impact.”

Mike Blair is a member of The Royal Bank RugbyForce, bringing his coaching experience to help grassroots clubs improve their coaching expertise. To register for a chance to have Mike join your rugby club, visit www.scottishrugby.org/rugbyforce