Mike Blair has become the latest high profile rugby player to cite concussion as a factor in his decision to quit the sport.
The former Scotland captain had been widely expected to retire and increase his backroom responsibilities with Glasgow Warriors at the end of this season.
However the 35-year-old scrum-half who was the only Scottish player ever to have been nominated for the World Rugby Player of the Year award prior to this season has been suffering from persistent symptoms since suffering his latest head knocks in meetings with Welsh sides the Scarlets in December and the Dragons in February.
He has played in just one match since the second of those, his symptoms returning after that meeting with Cardiff Blues in March.
“I have seen neurologists a couple of times and I am going down to see another neurologist in Surrey tomorrow,” he revealed.
“I have still been having headaches but definitely improving.”
Not quickly enough, however, to allow him to play an on-field role in Glasgow Warriors’ bid to defend their Pro12 title as the play-offs loom.
“I’ve run out of time and am not in a situation now fitness wise to come back and play. I am not symptom free at the moment,” he added.
“I am very comfortable with the decison (to retire) now because I am still experiencing some concussion symptoms. Had it been two weeks ago when I had no symptoms at all and it was a case of right, I could maybe get back for the end of the season, maybe two or three games, that would have made things a lot more difficult. You are left with a decision, do I, not risk things with the concussion, but what is the risk/reward of being involved in these last two or three games?
“I saw the neurologist about five or six weeks ago and he said 'See how things go for the next four to six weeks, and then review things after that.’ I have still had the symptoms but I am very confident that they will go away.”
He now moves fully into an assistant coach’s role having been given exactly the duties he wanted by head coach Gregor Townsend focused on the attacking side of the team’s play along with mentoring of scrum-halves and new recruits.
“It’s really exciting,” he said.
“This thing was on the cards for a while, but we met and discussed what I was going to be doing and if I’d written down what I wanted to do and shown it to Gregor it was pretty much exactly what he had written down to present to me. It’s a great role and there’s a hell of a lot of learning to be done.”
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