Horne is hoping to see a permanent tribute to ‘inspirational’ Weir
Pete Horne hopes that plans are being progressed to establish a permanent tribute to Doddie Weir, who died on Saturday following a five-and-ahalf year battle against motor neurone disease.
A number of the great man’s former team-mates and friends have suggested in recent days that one of the stands at BT Murrayfield should be re-named in his memory
That idea has gained considerable traction on social media with an online petition attracting several thousand signatures.
There have also been calls for a statue to be erected to commemorate Weir’s life and many achievements as a player, a personality and an activist in the battle against the neurodegenerative disease which ultimately claimed his life.
“He’ll be sorely missed, but his legacy will live on forever, and I’m sure some kind of tribute to him will be in the pipeline,” said Horne.
“He was just such a special man and character. When he entered a room, he just filled it with his presence. He was inspirational with the way he battled on.
"He was so selfless, even though the disease was attacking him for so long, he just kept fighting it, to raise awareness and raise all the money he did for charity.
"His reach stretches so far, not just in rugby, but just society as a whole. I’m sure some kind of tribute will happen, and it’ll be great to see.”
Meanwhile, Horne revealed that Warriors and Scotland stand-off Ross Thompson is facing a lengthy injury layoff with an ankle injury suffered during the final 10 minutes of the club’s loss away to Leinster last weekend. “Ross has had a scan and an x-ray, and unfortunately it’s fractured,” Horne explained.
“We don’t have a timeframe for when he will be back yet. We’ll know more about that later this week.”
Warriors will look break their 10-match losing streak in away league matches when they visit Parma this weekend.
They will be up against a Zebre team who are currently bottom of the United Rugby Championship table with a record of zero wins from their eight matches played so far in the 2022-23 campaign.