Scotland captain Mike Blair shared in the British and Irish Lions most recent triumph – their 39-3 midweek win against the Natal Sharks in Durban.  Blair sends his latest blog as the Lions now move on to Cape Town with a played four won four record.

I’m writing this the morning after the Lions continued winning ways against the Sharks and before we catch our flight to Cape Town for Saturday’s game against Western Province.

Durban is part of South Africa that I know quite well, having been here with Scotland in both 2003 and 2006.  On both those occasions we stayed at the Beverley Hills Hotel in Umhlangha Rocks – a great hotel, right on the coast, where it seems every room has an ocean view.

We’re back here with the Lions having flown to Durban straight after our victory against the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein last weekend. I was on the bench for that game as I was again last night against the Sharks.

Everyone is working very hard for the team that’s playing and I believe everyone has bought into both the ethos of what the Lions are about and of what the coaches are looking for us to achieve.  Training sessions tend to be short, sharp and intense and as the coaches have been looking at different combinations in the opening games we’ve been going through the same sort of sequences in training.

I was glad to get some time off the bench against the Sharks and I’m as eager as ever to get on the pitch.  We had the chance to meet some real-life sharks earlier this week, as opposed to those who play at the ABSA Stadium.

On Sunday we went to U Shaka, a massive water park in Durban which had every conceivable marine related attraction.  It’s owned by the dad of the England prop Matt Stevens and there was a chance to “swim with sharks,” – although these particular creatures seemed to be the most docile imaginable.

I’ve met up with a local who used to play prop at Edinburgh Accies, Gavin Edwards, so it was a chance to update him on all the latest happenings at Raeburn Place.

Talking of my old school, another of its former pupils, Scotland team manager Guy Richardson, is part of the Lions management on this tour.

Guy is in “logistics” which tends to mean that he’s in charge of all our luggage and infrastructure.  Guy is operating two days ahead of the rest of the party as he moves ahead to our next location and has everything in situ for our arrival, all done with military precision!

We tend to see Guy when we arrive at our next hotel and he’ll tell us the essentials.  He’ll only see one match on the tour live – the final test – but he seems to be enjoying himself nonetheless.

Supporters are starting to arrive from the UK, as the first Test nears.  I noticed quite a bit of chanting at the game in Durban and I’m sure the volume will be turned up as we arrive at Cape Town on Saturday, just one week out from the start of the Tests.

Mike Blair
Scotland captain