George Wilson "Doddie" Weir OBE (born 4 July 1970) is a Scottish former rugby union player who played as a lock. He made 61 international appearances for the Scotland national team.
The Doddie Weir Cup was named after him.
Early life
Weir was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, and was educated at Daniel Stewart's and Melville College. He studied at the Scottish Agricultural College from 1988 to 1991, gaining a Higher National Diploma.
Club career
Weir started playing rugby for Stewart's Melville FP RFC,[1] He then played for Melrose RFC in the Borders and was part of the team that won six Scottish club championships. He later moved to England in 1995 to join the Newcastle Falcons and was part of the Premiership winning side of 1997–98.[2]
He also started the victorious 2001 Anglo-Welsh Cup final.[3] He moved back to Scotland to join the newly reformed Borders team in 2002 where he remained until his retirement from professional rugby.
International career
Weir's first appearance for Scotland was on 10 November 1990 against Argentina at Murrayfield Stadium.[4] A mainstay of the team throughout the 1990s he was a recognisable figure around the park and fan favourite of the Murrayfield crowd.
In 1997 he was the first recipient of the Famous Grouse Scotland Player of the Five Nations Award.[5]
An excellent lineout specialist he was selected as part of the British and Irish Lions tour of South Africa in 1997. Whilst on the tour he suffered a horrific knee injury, as a result of foul play, while playing against Mpumalanga Province.[1]
His time in the national side dissipated in later years as Scotland began to blood the next generation of locks, with the likes of Stuart Grimes and eventual Scotland cap record holder Scott Murray coming into the team. His final appearance was in the Six Nations Championship match against France at Murrayfield, on 4 March 2000.
He won 61 Scottish caps scoring 19 points from four tries (his first was under the old four points). He finished his playing career together with Gary Armstrong at The Borders in 2004.
Weir was famously described by commentator Bill McLaren as being "On the charge like a mad giraffe".[6]
After playing career
Weir went on to work for Hutchinson Environmental Solutions, a waste management company that was started by his father-in-law. Weir was given the position of commercial director.[7] He is also active on the after-dinner speech circuit.
He occasionally appears on the BBC as part of the half-time analysis during Scotland matches.
Personal life
In June 2017, Weir announced he was diagnosed with motor neurone disease (ALS) in order to promote Global MND Awareness Day.[8] In August, he spoke about plans to set up a foundation named 'My Name'5 Doddie'[9] in order to "raise funds for research into a cure for MND and to provide grants to people living with the condition".[10] A new tartan was designed by Doddie in collaboration with Berwickshire-based clothes firm ScotlandShop, in a bid to raise cash for his motor neurone disease research charity. The tartan features colours from the teams he played for: black and yellow of Melrose, blue and white of Scotland, and black of the former and white of the latter are also intended as a reference to his seven years with Newcastle Falcons.[11]My Name'5 Doddie: The Autobiography was published on 25 October 2018 through Black & White Publishing.[12]
On 31 October 2018, Weir appeared on BBC One's The One Show, where he stated that his charity had now raised over £1 million.[13] 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.[14]
The Doddie Weir Cup is a perpetual rugby union trophy for matches played between Scotland and Wales; including those matches played in the Six Nations.[15]
In December 2019, Weir was announced as the recipient of the Helen Rollason Award, which is presented every year during the annual BBC Sports Personality of the Year show
The Doddie Weir Cup was named after him.
Early life
Weir was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, and was educated at Daniel Stewart's and Melville College. He studied at the Scottish Agricultural College from 1988 to 1991, gaining a Higher National Diploma.
Club career
Weir started playing rugby for Stewart's Melville FP RFC,[1] He then played for Melrose RFC in the Borders and was part of the team that won six Scottish club championships. He later moved to England in 1995 to join the Newcastle Falcons and was part of the Premiership winning side of 1997–98.[2]
He also started the victorious 2001 Anglo-Welsh Cup final.[3] He moved back to Scotland to join the newly reformed Borders team in 2002 where he remained until his retirement from professional rugby.
International career
Weir's first appearance for Scotland was on 10 November 1990 against Argentina at Murrayfield Stadium.[4] A mainstay of the team throughout the 1990s he was a recognisable figure around the park and fan favourite of the Murrayfield crowd.
In 1997 he was the first recipient of the Famous Grouse Scotland Player of the Five Nations Award.[5]
An excellent lineout specialist he was selected as part of the British and Irish Lions tour of South Africa in 1997. Whilst on the tour he suffered a horrific knee injury, as a result of foul play, while playing against Mpumalanga Province.[1]
His time in the national side dissipated in later years as Scotland began to blood the next generation of locks, with the likes of Stuart Grimes and eventual Scotland cap record holder Scott Murray coming into the team. His final appearance was in the Six Nations Championship match against France at Murrayfield, on 4 March 2000.
He won 61 Scottish caps scoring 19 points from four tries (his first was under the old four points). He finished his playing career together with Gary Armstrong at The Borders in 2004.
Weir was famously described by commentator Bill McLaren as being "On the charge like a mad giraffe".[6]
After playing career
Weir went on to work for Hutchinson Environmental Solutions, a waste management company that was started by his father-in-law. Weir was given the position of commercial director.[7] He is also active on the after-dinner speech circuit.
He occasionally appears on the BBC as part of the half-time analysis during Scotland matches.
Personal life
In June 2017, Weir announced he was diagnosed with motor neurone disease (ALS) in order to promote Global MND Awareness Day.[8] In August, he spoke about plans to set up a foundation named 'My Name'5 Doddie'[9] in order to "raise funds for research into a cure for MND and to provide grants to people living with the condition".[10] A new tartan was designed by Doddie in collaboration with Berwickshire-based clothes firm ScotlandShop, in a bid to raise cash for his motor neurone disease research charity. The tartan features colours from the teams he played for: black and yellow of Melrose, blue and white of Scotland, and black of the former and white of the latter are also intended as a reference to his seven years with Newcastle Falcons.[11]My Name'5 Doddie: The Autobiography was published on 25 October 2018 through Black & White Publishing.[12]
On 31 October 2018, Weir appeared on BBC One's The One Show, where he stated that his charity had now raised over £1 million.[13] 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.[14]
The Doddie Weir Cup is a perpetual rugby union trophy for matches played between Scotland and Wales; including those matches played in the Six Nations.[15]
In December 2019, Weir was announced as the recipient of the Helen Rollason Award, which is presented every year during the annual BBC Sports Personality of the Year show
