The Dragons broke their 20-year Twickenham hoodoo last weekend and now face Scotland in the RBS Six Nations on Saturday in Cardiff. And former British Lions scrum half Nicol reckons Warren Gatland’s men will have to be on red alert for the Edinburgh dangerman when the teams clash at the Millennium Stadium.
Nicol, 36, said: “Blair is Scotland’s best player at the moment and probably the best scrum half in Europe.
“His control and reading of the game is superb and his displays for Edinburgh in both the Magners League and Europe this season have been brilliant.”
Blair will have to inspire a Scotland outfit who got their Six Nations campaign to the worst possible start with a crushing 27-6 home defeat to France. The World Cup quarter-finalists also finished bottom of the pile in the 2007 RBS Six Nations championship with just one victory, against Wales at Murrayfield.
But Nicol reckons there remains a good feeling in the camp thanks to the consistency shown by national boss Frank Hadden.
Nicol added: “Scotland managed to make a huge improvement from last year’s Six Nations into the World Cup and we’ve slowly building an exciting and competitive team.
“I’m still optimistic Scotland will perform well in the championship because of the stability and consistency in the squad.”
