Rugby legend Doddie Weir's legacy as a champion for people with motor neurone disease will live on after his death, his family and friends have said.

He died on Saturday aged 52, six years after being diagnosed with MND.

The former Scotland international raised more than £8million through his My Name'5 Doddie foundation.

His former team-mate Scott Hastings described him as a "trailblazer" who pushed research forward.

Scott told the BBC yesterday: "He has brought the disease to the shop window. He has rattled cages, disrupted, challenged, cajoled.

"He has encouraged all these researchers to work together to find a cure for MND.

Trailblazer

"Without doubt he was a trailblazer, and he leaves an incredible legacy behind him."

Doddie, capped 61 times between 1990 and 2000, was given an OBE in 2019 for services to rugby, to MND research and to the Borders community.

He is survived by wife Kathy and sons Hamish, Angus and Ben.

She described him as "an inspirational force" while tributes have been led by the Prince and Princess of Wales.

Scott said that "behind this facade of this jovial, loveable character" Doddie was a serious man at heart.

"He was a magical human being. Just such a loveable bloke," he said. "He was a ray of light in a room - any room.

Figurehead

"But he was also the figurehead that brought motor neurone disease to the wider public.

"Not only that, he helped so many other people who were left in this incredible situation of, having been diagnosed with motor neurone disease, not knowing what the disease entailed.

"That is undoubtedly going to be his legacy."

Jill Douglas, chief executive of My Name'5 Doddie Foundation, said his vision of a world free of MND "remains at the heart of our strategy".

She added: "He inspired us every day with his positivity and energy and was fully committed to the work of the foundation he launched with his close friends in November 2017.

"My Name'5 Doddie Foundation continues to shine a light on MND and the need to seek meaningful treatments and, one day, a cure for this devastating disease."

Professional era

Born in Edinburgh, he played for Stewart's Melville and Melrose, where he won six championships, before turning out for Newcastle and Border Reivers in the professional era.

His first Scotland cap came against Argentina in November 1990.

A lineout specialist, he scored four international tries across his career, including two against New Zealand in a quarter-final loss at the 1995 World Cup.

Once famously described as being "on the charge like a mad giraffe" by commentator Bill McLaren, he was selected for the British and Irish Lions in 1997 but his tour of South Africa was ended prematurely by injury.

Earlier this month, Doddie appeared at Murrayfield with the match ball before Scotland kicked off against New Zealand, receiving a rapturous welcome from the capacity crowd.

It mirrored the emotional on-pitch appearance he made with his three sons against the same opponents in autumn 2017.

Doddie was honoured with the Helen Rollason Award at the 2019 BBC Sports Personality of the Year.

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