Scottish Rugby will carry live coverage of the Doddie Weir memorial service later today to celebrate the life of the irrepressible second-row.
Doddie, the former Scotland and British & Irish Lions lock, died last month, aged 52, after a long fight against MND – motor neurone disease – and having raised millions of pounds through his charitable foundation to support research to find a cure for the appalling condition.
The memorial service is due to begin at Melrose Parish Church – just next door to the Greenyards ground that was Doddie’s home pitch for so many years – at 1pm on Monday (19 December) and will be screened live around the world on the Scottish Rugby website.
Scottish Rugby chairman John Jeffrey, who is also a trustee of the My Name’5 Doddie Foundation, said: “Scottish Rugby is honoured to live stream the memorial service. Doddie’s impact was way beyond the rugby community in Scotland and the rest of the British Isles.
“The outpouring of affection for Doddie has been global and I know it will mean a lot to his family and friends that the service is being broadcast on our website.”
Doddie Weir’s Memorial Service
JOIN THE RUCK:
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.”