Doddie Weir

George Wilson Weir
Date of birth (1970-07-04) 4 July 1970
Place of birth Edinburgh, Scotland
Height 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in)
Weight 109 kg (17 st 2 lb)
Rugby union career
Amateur team(s)
Years Team Apps (Points)
1991–1995
1988–1991		 Melrose RFC
Stewart's Melville RFC		 ()
Senior career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2002–2005
1995–2002		 Borders
Newcastle Falcons		 ?
97		 (?)
(35)
National team(s)
Years Team Apps (Points)
1990–2000 Scotland 61 (19)

George "Doddie" Weir (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.

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 1988–1991, 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 August 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 legendary 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, it was made public that Weir was suffering from Motor Neurone Disease. Weir announced his diagnosis via Twitter in order to promote Global MND Awareness Day.[8] In August he spoke about plans to set up a foundation named 'My Name's Doddie' in order to 'raise funds for research into a cure for MND and to provide grants to people living with the condition'.[9]

References

  1. 1 2 Glover, Tim (27 August 2000). "A Weir and the likely lads". The Independent. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
  2. ↑ "Allied Dunbar Premiership, 1997/98 / Newcastle Falcons / Player records". espnscrum.com. Archived from the original on 7 September 2014. Retrieved 7 September 2014.
  3. ↑ "Newcastle snatch Cup glory". BBC. 24 February 2001. Retrieved 26 December 2009.
  4. ↑ "Interview: Doddie Weir flushed with pride as Scotland walk tall once again". The Scotsman. 27 November 2009. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
  5. ↑ "No grouse as Doddie Weir wins by a street". The Herald. 18 March 1997. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  6. ↑ Alan, Tyers (8 February 2015). "Rugby broadcasting is barely recognisable to the days of Bill McLaren". Telgraph. Retrieved 20 June 2017.
  7. ↑ Ford, Coreena (11 November 2013). "Hutchinson Environmental Solutions celebrates 40 years". The Journal. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
  8. ↑ "Doddie Weir diagnosed with motor neurone disease". BBC Sport. Retrieved 20 June 2017.
  9. ↑ "Doddie Weir: 'I don't blame rugby for my MND'". BBC News. 29 August 2017. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
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