Scots flop Blake will try to cut it back home
HUGH Blake flew from New Zealand to Scotland less than 18 months ago and landed straight into their Six Nations squad before he had time to make his debut for Edinburgh. He had, after all, been a Junior All Black.
Now the same Hugh Blake has flown back from Scotland to New Zealand, a little older and a lot wiser. He will have a better understanding that pastures on the other side of the world are not necessarily any greener. “I’m really excited to return home,’’ he said after joining Bay of Plenty.
Those left behind in Scotland, not least national head coach Vern Cotter, will doubtless have their own words on the episode. Excited would not be one of them although Cotter saw enough from video footage to rush the Kiwi into his squad at the expense of the countr y’s most-capped openside, Johnny Barclay.
The Six Nations having come and gone, Blake made his bow for Scotland’s opening match last summer, the pre-World Cup run out against Ireland in Dublin. Cotter never picked him again, preferring another wing forward who had also been parachuted in from 12,000 miles – John Hardie.
Blake, whose grandparents emigrated from Glasgow more than half a century ago, struggled to hack it in the Pro12 never mind the Test arena. After one start for Edinburgh, he moved to Glasgow towards the end of last season but managed only two starts during the Warriors’ defence of their title.