There has never been anyone quite like Doddie Weir. A giant of the game and a rugby icon, the late great Scotland international always lived life to the full.
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The XV you see below is made up of players Doddie Weir singled out for praise in his autobiography.
If you like rugby then this is a simple, honest and amusing book of Doddie Weir’s career (which was quite a career spanning the amateur and professional game).
Following his death, a campaign to rename a stand at Murrayfield after Doddie Weir have set themselves the target of collecting more than 67,000 signatures – one for every seat inside the home of Scottish Rugby.
Weir, who passed away over the weekend, went on to raise millions through his My Name’5 Doddie foundation following his diagnosis in 2016.
The lock was given an OBE in 2019 for services to rugby, to MND research and to the Borders community.
Murrayfield North (for) Doddie – or MND for short – is one of the suggestions being put forward in recognition of the 61-times capped star’s efforts to improve the lives of those with Motor Neurone Disease.
And the petition has already attracted more than 25,000 signatures.
Murray told Radio Borders: “We’ve had a lot of support from the rugby community. The Good, The Bad & The Rugby podcast redid the artwork for me and they’ve put up on their socials, with (former England players) James Haskell and Mike Tindall, who’s just come out the (I’m a Celebrity) jungle sharing it.
“People have left lovely comments on the petition – saying this would be a big thank you for all he’s done for rugby and MND, and will keep him in our thoughts.
“Initially, we never even thought of a target; but we’re now at 8,000 signatures, so I think if we aim for the capacity of Murrayfield, which is 67,144 – that would be a fitting tribute.”
You can add your support by signing the petition here: https://www.change.org/p/doddie-weir-stand
Doddie Weir names his dream team:
BACK-THREE:
Gavin Hastings (Scotland): “Consistently outstanding for both Scotland and the Lions. Helped me a lot when the game turned professional.”
Tony Stanger (Scotland): “Probably Scotland’s greatest ever finisher. He was key as we won the 1990 Grand Slam.”
Jonah Lomu (New Zealand): “He took the 1995 World Cup by storm. There were plenty of players who were six foot five and nearly nineteen stone, but none I knew who could run the 100m sprint in 11 seconds.”
CENTRE:
Alan Tait (Scotland): “He seemed to have the uncanny ability to always be in the right place at the right time. Then you realised that was because he was pushing opponents into areas where they had no space to work. He was also the tightest man in the world.”
Tana Umaga (New Zealand): “Scored twice against us. Like with Lomu, we really struggled to contain him.”