Ulster 28-14 Edinburgh: “I gave everything I could” – outgoing manager Mike Blair

52 minutes ago

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Mike Blair is stepping down as Edinburgh head coach after two seasons

Mike Blair is satisfied that he “did everything I could” as Edinburgh head coach as he ended his tenure in defeat at Ulster.

The 41-year-old former Scottish Scrum-Half announced in February that he would not be renewing his contract.

Friday’s 28-14 defeat secured Ulster second place in the United Rugby Championship, leaving Edinburgh in 12th place.

“I don’t think it’s an effort issue – it’s an intelligence issue,” Blair said when asked what went wrong this season.

“I spoke to the players and thanked them for their efforts.

Blair said in February he was taking “breath” before deciding on his next move because while he enjoys working with players on the training ground, he doesn’t enjoy other aspects of his job.

Asked if he now knows what his future holds, he told ` Scotland: “I haven’t given it too much thought because I didn’t want to get distracted.

“I’m disappointed with the season we’ve had, but I know I’ve given everything I could. I’ve made huge sacrifices, both in terms of time and emotionally.”

Edinburgh scored the first try in Belfast but Ulster gradually took control.

“The game had a really good pace,” said Blair. “I thought our execution was excellent from the start but we didn’t get the points. The pressure we had, we had to get more points.

“Going down at half-time was hard to take and then obviously giving away the intercept early in the second half meant we had a mountain to climb. It was our season in microcosm.

“We’ve shown a lot of good things but we’ve had too many occasions where we’ve slowed down or made a mistake at a crucial moment and that’s not how you win games.”

Edinburgh finished last season in seventh place, one spot ahead of Glasgow Warriors, but the West Coast side have fared much better than their rivals this season.

“Last season we got momentum from wins and when you do that you’re a different beast,” Blair added.

“We had a really difficult time over Christmas this year and didn’t quite get over it. There’s a lot of work to do, a lot to look back and think about, but we weren’t good enough this season.”