DAVID SOLE ON RUGBY
This evening in Aberdeen, one of Scotland’s most-loved former players will collect the Helen Rollason Award at the BBC Sports Personality of the Year.
There could be no more worthy winner of such an accolade.
Doddie Weir has a special place in the heart of every Scottish rugby fan, particularly since his diagnosis with the dreadful motor neurone disease (MND).
The Helen Rollason Award recognises outstanding achievement in the face of adversity. So it is little surprise that Doddie is the recipient.
Leaving aside his relentless optimism and good humour, he has set about raising money to find a cure for this awful condition.
The My Name’5 Doddie Foundation has been incredibly successful, and has raised over £4 million – a clear indication of how highly-regarded Doddie is across the world of rugby.
It is this incredible drive and unremitting optimism that sets Weir apart from others.
In fundraising for MND, he has discovered a new sense of purpose.
He may not be the beneficiary of any breakthrough in a cure for MND, yet that does not deter him, or dilute his good humour.
He lives every day to the full and makes the very most of every minute.
There could not be a better role model or recipient of this prestigious award, and I doubt there will be a dry
‘ There won’t be a dry eye when Doddie accepts the award
eye in the P&J Arena when he steps up to receive this accolade from the BBC.
Meanwhile, elsewhere in rugby, another of Gregor Townsend’s World Cup squad has stepped down from elite competition, with Tommy Seymour announcing his retirement from international rugby.
Like John Barclay, Seymour will continue to play for Glasgow – and is supposedly on the verge of signing an extension to his contract – but he will not play for Scotland again.
Seymour had the reputation of being a fine finisher and strong in the air, but ever since he became a British & Irish Lion in New Zealand, he has never found the form that deservedly won him a place on that tour.
The winger was one of Townsend’s favourites, however, and he found himself being selected above other players, who offered different attributes and were showing great form.
Unfortunately, the selection on reputation rarely paid off, and many were left wondering why the US-born winger was in the side.
He deserves to be remembered for the quality that won him the place in the Lions, and perhaps in the extra few years at Glasgow, he will achieve those heights again.
One wonders if others will follow Barclay and Seymour into international retirement in the coming weeks.
A few names spring to mind as likely candidates to step down, but we’ll see.