Wikipedia

Doddie Weir

George Wilson"Doddie"WeirOBE(4 July 1970 – 26 November 2022) was a Scottishrugby unionplayer who played as alock.He made 61 international appearances for theScotland national teamand represented theBritish & Irish Lions.

Doddie Weir
OBE
Birth nameGeorge Wilson Weir
Date of birth(1970-07-04)4 July 1970
Place of birthEdinburgh,Scotland
Date of death26 November 2022(2022-11-26)(aged 52)
Place of deathMelrose, Scottish Borders,Scotland
Height1.98 m (6 ft 6 in)
Weight109 kg (17 st 2 lb)
Rugby union career
Position(s) Lock
Amateur team(s)
Years Team Apps (Points)
1988–1989 Stewart's Melville ()
1989–1995 Melrose ()
Senior career
Years Team Apps (Points)
1995–2002 Newcastle Falcons 97 (35)
2002–2005 Border Reivers 97 (35)
Provincial / State sides
Years Team Apps (Points)
1992 Reds Trial ()
International career
Years Team Apps (Points)
1989 Scotland B 1 (0)
1990–2000 Scotland 61 (19)
2001 Scotland A 1

With the change to professional rugby, he was recruited to Newcastle Falcons playing 1997–2002 and he captained the club. He returned to the Borders in 2002 but retired from professional rugby in 2004. In 2016 he was diagnosed withmotor neuron disease(MND).

He became involved with campaigning and fundraising, setting up a foundation named "My Name'5 Doddie" which had raised £8 million for MND research by the time that he died from this condition. TheDoddie Weir Cupis named after him.

Early life

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Weir was born inEdinburgh,Scotland, the eldest of four children. He was the son of Nanny (Margaret, née Houston) and Jock Weir.[1]From early childhood he was known by the traditional Scottish nickname Doddie.[2][3]He was brought up on Cortleferry Farm, near the village ofStowin the Scottish Borders.[4][5]He was brought up with horses and he competed at localgymkhanasalong with his sister Kirsty.[6]Later he went on to represent Scotland at national equestrian events. Once, at the Scottish Horse Trials, he competed againstPrincess Anne.[7][8]

Weir was educated at Fountainhall primary school and then atDaniel Stewart's and Melville Collegein Edinburgh from primary six onwards.[5]He then studied at theScottish Agricultural Collegefrom 1988 to 1991, gaining aHigher National Diploma.[9]

Rugby Union career

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Amateur career

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Weir started playing rugby forStewart's Melville FP RFC.[6]He was invited on a Scottish Schools tour of New Zealand in 1988.[10]By 1989 he was playing forMelrose RFCin theBorders[11]and was part of the team that won six Scottish club championships.

Provincial and professional career

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Weir was selected for theReds Trialside to play against theBlues Trialside on 4 January 1992. After the match, TheAberdeen Press and Journalwrote:[12]

No way, however, should the selectors revert to Doddie Weir for the boiler-room. The Melrose youngster's future must lie at No. 8. He is simply not heavy enough to tangle with the giant English locks.

He moved to England in 1995 to joinEnglish Division TwosideNewcastle Gosforth.The professional era was underway and Weir was now playing full-time.[10]For the 1996–7 season the club took the new name of Newcastle Falcons and gained promotion. The following season the club won their firstPremiership title.In August 2000 he was named as Newcastle Falcon's captain for the forthcoming season.[13]He captained the team that was victorious in the 2001Powergen Cupfinal.[14]He played 97 matches for the club.[15]

He featured for theBarbarian F.C.invitational side on six occasions, making his debut against Newport in 1992 and captaining the club on his final appearance against the Combined Services in 2002.[16]

In February 2002, the Falcons announced that Weir,Gary ArmstrongandGeorge Grahamwould all leave the club at the end of the season to join the newly reformedBorders Rugbyteam.[17][18]Weir remained with the Borders team until his retirement from professional rugby.[19]Weir and Armstrong finished their playing career at theBorder Reiversin May 2004.[20][21]

International career

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He had one solitary cap forScotland Bagainst Ireland B on 9 December 1989. The Herald columnist Brian Meek wrote: "Melrose's Doddie Weir still looks like he should eat more porridge, but his jumping and catching are a joy to watch... and he gets about."[22]

Weir's first senior appearance for Scotland was on 10 November 1990 againstArgentinaatMurrayfield Stadium.[23][24]A mainstay of the team throughout the 1990s, he was a fan favourite of the Murrayfield crowd.[2][25]His first Rugby World Cup was in1991,where Scotland lost in the third-place play-off to New Zealand.[26]In March 1993, he was drafted in to Scotland's Sevens team for theHong Kong SevenswhenIain Morrisonsustained an injury.[27]

He played in the1995 Rugby World Cupand in the quarter finals scored two tries against New Zealand. He is the only Scot to have scored 2 tries against New Zealand.[28]By the end of 1996 he was Scotland's most capped forward, but was left out of Scotland's squad against Italy.[29]He scored a try againstFranceat Murrayfield in the Five Nations on 1 March 1997.[30]In 1997 he was the first recipient of theFamous Grouse Scotland Player of the Five Nations Award.[31]

He was once described bycommentatorBill McLarenas being "On the charge like a mad giraffe".[32]

A lineout specialist, he was selected as part of theBritish & Irish Lionstour of South Africa in 1997.Whilst on the tour he suffered a serious knee injury, as a result of foul play, while playing againstMpumalanga Province.[24][33]

His time in the national side declined in later years as the next generation of locks emerged, with the likes ofStuart Grimesand eventual Scotland cap record holderScott Murraycoming into the team. His final appearance was in theSix Nations Championshipmatch against France at Murrayfield, on 4 March 2000.[34]In February 2001 he captained theScotland Aside.[35]

He won 61 Scottishcaps,scoring 19 points from four tries (his first scoring four points under the old scoring system).[36]

After playing career

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In 2005, having retired from professional rugby, Weir settled in to the 300-acre Bluecairn Farm, located only a few miles from where he was brought up at Cortleferry.[4]He went on to work for Hutchinson Environmental Solutions, a waste management company that was started by his father-in-law.[7]Weir was given the position of commercial director.[37]He was also active on theafter-dinner speech circuit.[1]

He occasionally made appearances in his distinctive tartan suits on television,[38]including work as a pundit for theBBCas part of the half-time analysis during Scotland matches and commentating at theMelrose Sevens.[39]

Illness and campaigning

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In June 2017, Weir announced that he had been diagnosed withmotor neuron disease(MND), the announcement coinciding with global MND Awareness Day.[40]He had been told by a specialist in December that he had MND with a prediction that he would be unable to walk within a year.[41]In August 2017, he spoke about plans to set up a foundation named "My Name'5 Doddie"[42]in order to "raise funds for research into a cure for MND and to provide grants to people living with the condition".[43]In November, accompanied by his wife and three sons, he walked the match ball on to the pitch at Murrayfield for theAutumn internationaltest match between Scotland and the All Blacks.[44]At the outset Weir viewed himself as lucky to have been able to be involved with campaigning and fundraising while still raising his family.[45]

My Name's Doddie: The Autobiographywas published on 25 October 2018 throughBlack & White Publishing.[46]On 31 October 2018, Weir appeared onBBC One'sThe One Show,where he stated that his charity had now raised over £1 million.[47]By March 2019, the foundation had committed to distribute more than £2 million from funds raised.[48]A fellow rugby international and BBC broadcasterJohn Beattiefollowed Doddie over a couple of years.[25]The result was a 60-minute BBC TV documentaryDoddie Weir: One More Trythat first aired on BBC Scotland On 6 December 2019.[49][50]

In January 2020 Weir confirmed his own participation in a clinical trial aimed at finding drugs that could slow, stop or reverse the progression of MND.[51]He encouraged people with a diagnosis of MND to enrol in the MND-Smart programme which would trial new drugs, existing drugs and a placebo.[52]In October 2021 a further publication,Doddie's Diary,contained descriptions of how his condition was worsening.[53]By June 2022 his foundation, My Name's Doddie, had raised £8 million for MND research.[54]

On 13 November 2022, for the match against the All Blacks, the Scotland shirts incorporated the My Names Doddie tartan.[55]Weir, now in a wheelchair, and his family participated in the delivery of the matchday ball as he had when the All Blacks last visited Murrayfield in 2017.[56]

Death

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On the evening of 26 November 2022, his family announced that he had died of motor neuron disease, aged 52.[57][58]A memorial service was held at Melrose Parish Church on 19 December, with audio from the service relayed to Melrose RFC's ground The Greenyards.[59]

Personal life

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Weir married Kathy Huchinson in 1997. They have three sons, Hamish, Angus and Ben[1]

Tartan

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Weir designed histartanin 2018 in collaboration with Berwickshire-based clothes firm ScotlandShop,[60]in a bid to raise cash for the My Name'5 Doddie Foundation.[61]The tartan features colours from the teams he played for: black and yellow ofMelrose,blue and white ofScotland,and black of the former and white of the latter are also intended as a reference to his seven years withNewcastle Falcons.It is officially registered on theScottish Register of Tartans,reference: 12047.[62][63]After Weir's death, rugby league clubLeeds Rhinospaid tribute to Weir by incorporating the tartan into a commemorative kit for the 2023Magic Weekend.Weir had become good friends with former Rhinos player and fellow MND suffererRob Burrow.

Honours

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Scottish First Minister and the My Name's Doddie Foundation in 2025

Weir was appointed anOfficer of the Order of the British Empire(OBE) in the2019 New Year Honoursfor services to rugby, to motor neurone disease research and to the community in the Scottish Borders.[64]He collected the award fromQueen Elizabeth IIat an investiture at Holyrood Palace in July 2019.[65]

Named in his honour, theDoddie Weir Cupis a perpetual rugby union trophy for matches played betweenScotlandandWales.The inaugural competition was played in Cardiff in November 2018, with competitive encounters most likely to be played in the Six Nations.[66]

In November 2018, he was presented by theLord Provost of Edinburghwith the Edinburgh Award in recognition of the contribution he has made to the city, to sport and to motor neurone disease (MND) awareness and research – the twelfth recipient of this award.[67]At theWorld Rugby Awards,he received the Award for Character.[68][69]That same month,Glasgow Caledonian Universityconferred him with an Honorary Degree in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the sporting community and his commitment to fundraising for the common good.[70]

In December 2019, Weir was announced as the recipient of theHelen Rollason Award,which is presented every year during the annualBBC Sports Personality of the Yearshow.[71]The award was presented to him by Princess Anne.[72]

In July 2020, he was inducted into the Scottish Rugby hall of fame.[73]That year, theNational Galleries of Scotlandannounced that a portrait of Weir by artistGerard M. Burnshad been loaned to the Scottish collection.[74]

In November 2021, Melrose Rugby announced Weir as being appointed to the honorary position of joint President of the club.[75]

In July 2022 he was awarded an honorary degree byAbertay University.[76]

References

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  1. ^abcMalin, Ian (28 November 2022)."Doddie Weir obituary".The Guardian.Retrieved30 November2022.
  2. ^ab"Doddie Weir: The gentle giant who never lost his positive outlook".The Herald.Glasgow. 26 November 2022.Retrieved1 December2022.
  3. ^"Fans are only just realising Doddie Wear's real name with Scotland legend using nickname".www.ruck.co.uk.27 November 2022.Retrieved1 December2022.
  4. ^abKennedy, Kayley (11 December 2017)."Doddie gets back to his farming roots".Scottish Farmer.Retrieved29 November2022.
  5. ^abBean, Graham (26 November 2022)."'A huge, ferocious presence': Doddie Weir handled rugby's transition to pro from amateur with panache and never lost his humour ".The Scotsman.Retrieved29 November2022.
  6. ^abGlover, Tim (27 August 2000)."A Weir and the likely lads".The Independent.Retrieved26 September2015.
  7. ^ab"Interview: Doddie Weir flushed with pride as Scotland walk tall once again".The Scotsman.27 November 2009.Retrieved5 December2022.
  8. ^"Doddie Weir obituary".The Times.28 November 2022.Retrieved28 November2022.
  9. ^Davidson, Gordon (11 April 2018)."SRUC classmates get their boots back on for Doddie".The Scottish Farmer.Retrieved28 November2022.
  10. ^ab"Full-time Weir can cap it all and lock into good life".The Glasgow Herald.18 June 1996.Retrieved30 November2022.
  11. ^McMurtrie, Bill (3 January 1989)."Melrose gladly hand it to Keith".The Glasgow Herald.Retrieved27 November2022.
  12. ^Prophit, Reg (6 January 1992)."Reds give selectors the blues".Press and Journal.No. 42672. Aberdeen. p. 17.Retrieved4 December2022– via British Newspaper Archive.
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  14. ^"Newcastle snatch Cup glory".BBC. 24 February 2001.Retrieved26 December2009.
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  20. ^"Borders duo say goodbye".Evening Chronicle.13 May 2004.Retrieved27 November2022.
  21. ^"Celtic league guide. part i".The Herald.Glasgow. 3 September 2004.Retrieved27 November2022.
  22. ^Meek, Brian (11 December 1989)."Moore again stakes a strong claim".The Glasgow Herald.p. 23.Retrieved8 January2022.
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  24. ^abFinding a reason to get up and fight: Doddie Weir's inspirational Jersey Tales.World Rugby.26 August 2001.Retrieved8 January2022.
  25. ^abJackson, Debbie (7 December 2019)."Doddie Weir: The rugby legend who won't give in to MND".BC News.Retrieved27 November2022.
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  28. ^"Doddie Weir: Scotland should follow Irish and Lions when taking on the All Blacks".he Herald.12 November 2017.Retrieved1 December2022.
  29. ^"Reed caps miracle return".The Herald.11 December 1996.Retrieved26 December2022.
  30. ^"Five Nations – Murrayfield, 1 March 1997".ESPN.Retrieved30 November2022.
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  32. ^Alan, Tyers (8 February 2015)."Rugby broadcasting is barely recognisable to the days of Bill McLaren".The Daily Telegraph.Retrieved20 June2017.
  33. ^"Karate kick puts Weir's career on the line".The Glasgow Herald.6 June 1997.Retrieved29 November2022.
  34. ^"D-day for new-look Scots".BBC Sport.3 March 2000.Retrieved29 November2022.
  35. ^"Backing Weir for A team success".The Glasgow Herald.27 February 2001.Retrieved30 November2022.
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  37. ^Ford, Coreena (11 November 2013)."Hutchinson Environmental Solutions celebrates 40 years".The Journal.Archived fromthe originalon 1 December 2018.Retrieved26 September2015.
  38. ^"Doddie Weir delighted as TV role gives him boost in MND battle".The Scotsman.28 August 2018.Retrieved29 November2022.
  39. ^"Interview: Ex-Scotland lock Doddie Weir relishes Melrose Sevens".The Scotsman.8 April 2017.Retrieved29 November2022.
  40. ^"Doddie Weir diagnosed with motor neurone disease".BBC Sport.Retrieved20 June2017.
  41. ^McRae, Donald (21 June 2022)."Interview. Doddie Weir: 'The government has not given motor neurone disease the money it promised'".The Guardian.Retrieved27 November2022.
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  44. ^"All Blacks honour Motor Neurone Disease stricken Scottish rugby legend Doddie Weir".Stuff.New Zealand. 19 November 2017.Retrieved9 April2022.
  45. ^Smith, Aidan (11 November 2017)."Doddie Weir interview:" I have MND, but I'm a lucky man "".The Scotsman.Retrieved29 November2022.
  46. ^"Doddie the biography hits the shelves".Border Telegraph.24 October 2018.Retrieved27 November2022.
  47. ^"The One Show".31 October 2018.Retrieved3 December2018.
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  49. ^Wylie, Kathryn (28 November 2019)."One More Try programme on Doddie Weir's life to air on BBC Scotland".Southern Reporter.Retrieved27 November2022.
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  51. ^Williams, Martin (15 January 2020)."Doddie Weir to take part in 'ground-breaking' MND trial".The Herald.Retrieved1 May2022.
  52. ^Christie, Kevan (15 January 2020)."Rugby legend Doddie Weir to join groundbreaking Scottish MND drug trial".The Scotsman.Retrieved27 November2022.
  53. ^Drysdale, Neil (19 October 2021)."Neil Drysdale: Doddie's Diary shows how the big Borderer is battling MND".The Press and Journal.Scotland.Retrieved27 November2022.
  54. ^McRae, Donald (21 June 2022)."Doddie Weir: 'The government has not given motor neurone disease the money it promised'".The Guardian.Retrieved26 November2022.
  55. ^"Scotland to wear Doddie Weir tartan in match against New Zealand".The Press and Journal.Scotland. 11 November 2022.Retrieved27 November2022.
  56. ^Sands, Katie (13 November 2022)."Doddie Weir makes inspirational appearance at Scotland v All Blacks amid special gesture".WalesOnline.Retrieved27 November2022.
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  58. ^Luke McLaughlin (26 November 2022)."Doddie Weir, former Scotland and Lions second-row, dies aged 52".the Guardian.Retrieved26 November2022.
  59. ^Bean, Graham (30 November 2022)."Doddie Weir: Memorial service details announced with request to wear tartan".The Scotsman.Retrieved30 November2022.
  60. ^"Doddie'5 | Ancient–Modern Tartan & Clan Finder".www.scotlandshop.com.Retrieved14 October2022.
  61. ^"My Name'5 Doddie Foundation".My Name'5 Doddie Foundation.Retrieved14 October2022.
  62. ^"Tartan Details – The Scottish Register of Tartans".www.tartanregister.gov.uk.Retrieved14 October2022.
  63. ^"Doddie Weir nails colours to mast for new tartan".thesouthernreporter.co.uk.26 February 2018.Retrieved29 August2019.
  64. ^"No. 62507".The London Gazette(Supplement). 29 December 2018. p. N14.
  65. ^Murphy, Sean (2 July 2019)."MND campaigner Doddie Weir among recipients of Queen's honours at Holyrood".The Scotsman.Retrieved28 November2022.
  66. ^Griffiths, Gareth (3 November 2018)."Autumn Internationals: Wales 21–10 Scotland".BBC Sport.Retrieved29 November2022.
  67. ^"Scottish rugby legend Doddie Weir receives Edinburgh award".The Scotsman.23 November 2018.Retrieved29 November2022.
  68. ^"WATCH: Doddie Weir wins award and delivers amazing speech at the World Rugby Awards".ruck.co.uk.25 November 2018.Retrieved27 November2022.
  69. ^Doddie Weir wins World Rugby Award for Character.World Rugby.Retrieved27 November2022.
  70. ^Knox, David (28 November 2018)."Doddie accepts Honorary Doctorate in Glasgow".Border Telegraph.Retrieved29 November2022.
  71. ^"Doddie Weir wins Helen Rollason Award at Sports Personality 2019".BBC Sport.15 December 2019.Retrieved15 December2019.
  72. ^Doddie Weir: Obituary for iconic Scotland and British and Irish Lions lock,Tom English, BBC Scotland, 26 November 2022
  73. ^"Doddie Weir enters Scottish Rugby Hall of Fame as he turns 50".BBC Sport.3 July 2020.Retrieved30 November2022.
  74. ^"Doddie Weir, Portrait of Scotland rugby icon on display".National Galleries of Scotland.Retrieved27 November2022.
  75. ^Hislop, John (25 November 2021)."Doddie's delight at being appointed joint President of Melrose".Border Telegraph.Retrieved27 November2022.
  76. ^Tait, Kirstin (13 July 2022)."Rugby legend Doddie Weir awarded honorary degree for MND work".STV News.Retrieved27 November2022.
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