Michael Robert Leighton Blair is now Scotland's most-capped scrum-half, over-taking the previous incumbent of that prestigious role, Bryan Redpath, during the 2010 RBS 6 Nations Championship.  Mike became Scotland’s 108th captain when he took over from the injured Jason White to lead the team in the 2008 match against Ireland at Croke Park, Dublin. For Scotland’s next international he not only remained as captain but also won the man of the match for his performance in the Calcutta Cup victory against England by 15-9 at Murrayfield. A week later on Scotland’s visit to Italy, again as captain, he scored his fifth international try, with a sharp break from more than 20 metres out. He continued as captain for the two-Test tour in Argentina in June 2008 and the Bank of Scotland Corporate Autumn Tests against New Zealand, South Africa, and Canada in November that year and as well as all five matches in the 2009 Six Nations Championship matches. Later that summer he won selection for the Lions tour of South Africa as a replacement for the injured Irishman Tomas O'Leary. 

In the second of the 2008 Argentina internationals he became the 25th player to make 50 appearances for Scotland. After that tour he was appointed Edinburgh’s team captain.

Mike was outstanding in Scotland’s victory against France in their opening game of the 2006 RBS Six Nations, making several searing breaks, and followed that up with another impressive appearance in his next Murrayfield game – the 18-12 defeat of England. He missed the 2007 Six Nations Championship because of injury, but later that year he was back in the starting line-up for Scotland’s World Cup warm-up victory against Ireland at Murrayfield. He went on to play in four of Scotland’s five 2007 RWC matches. Mike marked his Scotland debut with a try against Canada in Vancouver on the 2002 North American tour. He made that tour after scoring a 60-metre try in the non-cap match against the Barbarians at Murrayfield. His second Scotland try was against Italy in the Rugby World Cup Countdown Test in 2003. That was soon followed by his World Cup debut against the USA in Brisbane. He scored his third Scotland try in the 38-3 win against Samoa in June 2004  in Wellington, New Zealand, and five months later he made a try-scoring appearance from the bench in the historic 100-8 win against Japan at Perth. In May 2005 he was impressive in Scotland’s first-ever win against the Barbarians at Pittodrie in Aberdeen, setting up Sean Lamont’s try, and he scored two tries in the equivalent match against the invitation club a year later at Murrayfield. Mike has also played seven times for Scotland A, making a try-scoring appearance as a substitute in the 13-19 defeat by France A in March 2002.

The previous year he represented Scotland in the IRB Sevens in London, where he was the tournament’s top try-scorer. Mike, who was named as Edinburgh Gunners’ Player of the Year at the Scottish Rugby Awards Dinner in May 2006, represented Scottish Schools and Scotland at under-19 and under-21 levels and was part of the Scotland sevens squad at the Manchester Commonwealth Games in 2002. A former pupil of Edinburgh Academy, he played club rugby first for Edinburgh Academicals and then for Boroughmuir before joining the professional ranks with Edinburgh Gunners.