Doddie Weir was a giant in the world of Scottish rugby, in more ways than one.
Not only was Doddie a hugely key player to the Scottish national side in the 1990s but the 6’6 lock towered above opponents on a regular basis with commentator Bill McLaren describing Weir “On the charge like a mad giraffe.”
The 49-year-old was diagnosed with motor neurone disease (MND) in 2016.
The following year, he launched his charity, the My Name’5 Doddie Foundation, which seeks to aid research into the disease and improve the lives of those with MND.
The former Melrose and Newcastle Falcons lock won 61 caps for Scotland.
Here are eight of our favourite Doddie moments from down the years:
1. Hard as nails
We will start off by heading back to 1999. The Scotland lock, was representing the Barbarians against Leicester Tigers at Twickenham, took a huge punch to the chin from rugby hard man Martin Johnson.
Of course, he didn’t go down!
2. His only Championship try
Weir scored just once in the Five Nations – this try against Ireland in the course of a powerful Scotland victory in Edinburgh in 1997 – and he beat four would-be Irish tacklers in doing so!
3. Premiership Champion
He moved to England in 1995 to join the Newcastle Falcons and was part of the Premiership winning side of 1997–98. A special season still spoken about by Falcons fans on a very regular basis.
4. Honours
He was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2019 New Year Honours for services to rugby, to motor neurone disease research and to the community in the Scottish Borders
