| School | The Royal School, Armagh | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| University | Heriot-Watt University | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Mark Blair is an Irish formerrugby union player, who played lock professionally forEdinburgh,Ulster,RC Narbonne and theBorder Reivers.
He attendedThe Royal School, Armagh, and after leaving school attended technical collage for year while playing forCity of Armagh RFC,[1] and represented Ulster at under-20 and under-21 levels.[2] He went toHeriot-Watt University inEdinburgh, and played rugby forCurrie RFC.[1] He had a trial forScotland, for whom he qualified through residency.[2] He played club rugby inNew Zealand in 1996 and 1997, and was selected a few times forCounties, where he played alongsideJonah Lomu.[3]
He signed a professional contract withEdinburgh Reivers for 1997-98,[1] The following season he had offers from Edinburgh andUlster, and chose to sign for Ulster, joiningBallymena R.F.C. However, he sustained an ankle ligament injury playing five-a-side football in the summer, arrived unfit, and began the season for Ulster behind part-timer Murtagh Rea. He eventually won a starting spot in the second row alongsideGary Longwell[1] playing in eight successive wins on the way to Ulster's victory in the1999 Heineken Cup Final.[4]
He made 55 appearances for Ulster over five seasons,[5] and helped Ballymena win theAll-Ireland League in 2003,[6] before joiningRC Narbonne ahead of the 2003-04 season. He had signed for three years, but left after a single season after the new coach objected to him going home to attend his brother's wedding.[3] He returned to Scotland, signing a two-year deal with theBorder Reivers.[7] The team was disbanded at the end of his second season, and he retired from professional rugby, although he continued to play club rugby with Currie until about 2009.[3] He set up a property development company with his brother-in-law,[8] and worked for theIRFUExiles programme until 2017.[3]