New Zealand born Scottish international back row Blair Cowan played in Major League Rugby between 2023-2024. He represented the San Diego Legion for his entire MLR career.

Born and raised in Upper Hutt in Wellington, New Zealand, Blair Cowan began playing rugby with local sides including the Upper Hutt Rams and Wellington before moving to the UK in 2009 and signing with the Cornish Pirates in the 2nd tier Championship. He spent 3 seasons with the Pirates, scoring 26 tries in 79 games before signing with Premiership side Worcester, where he played for the 2012/13 season before signing with London Irish. Weeks into his career with the Exiles, Cowan was named to the Scotland Squad for their 2013 Autumn Internationals but didn’t feature. He is eligible to represent Scotland through his mother who was born and raised in the village of Blairmore in Argyll, which Cowan is named after. He would go on to represent Scotland at the 2015 Rugby World Cup.

Blair Cowan eventually earned his test debut for Scotland during their 2014 Summer tour of North America, in a 6-24 victory over the United States. Bar a brief loan stint with Saracens in 2018, Cowan would remain with London Irish until 2021, earning over 150 appearances for the club between the Premiership, Championship, and European competitions, helping Irish re-gain promotion to the Premiership in 2017 & 2019 after being relegated the previous years. Following his 8 years with London Irish, Cowan signed with the Tokyo Black Rams in the Japanese Rugby League One, where he spent the 2022 season before heading to California, signing with the San Diego Legion for their 2023 campaign.

Cowan started all 11 of his appearances in his debut season in MLR, adding a try and averaged over 16 tackles per game, captaining the Legion to a MLR-best 15-1 record, but received a red card in the final game of the regular season against the Seattle Seawolves, and was suspended for the entire postseason where the Legion advanced to the MLR Championship game in Chicago, falling to the New England Free Jacks by a single point. Cowan returned for a 2nd season with the Legion in 2024, improving to 12 appearances (all starts) and adding a pair of tries and remaining a formidable tackler with 143 tries completed. He started the Legion’s Semifinal clash with the Seattle Seawolves, a narrow 28-30 loss that saw the Legion’s season end early.

Blair Cowan retired from professional rugby following the 2024 MLR season. He had scored 3 tries in 23 games for the San Diego Legion, starting all 23 and gaining 576m in possession. A defensive menance, he averaged over 14 tackles per game in MLR for a total of 325 tackles made.

achievements

• 2023 MLR Runner-Up: San Diego Legion