Newcastle Falcons and Southern Knights will be teaming up to pay tribute to rugby legend Doddie Weir OBE in the New Year following his passing last month, aged 52.
The former captain was a fan favourite during his playing days with Newcastle Falcons and Melrose. But in 2017 the Scotland great announced that he had been battling Motor Neurone Disease (MND).
In November that year, Doddie founded the My Name'5 Doddie Foundation with a mission to find a cure for MND and went on to raise millions for the foundation's efforts. Now, his beloved teams will come together to continue to raise funds in Doddie's memory, with two fundraising fixtures organised for the New Year.
Jill Douglas, CEO of My Name'5 Doddie Foundation said: "What a fitting way to raise money for My Name'5 Doddie Foundation. Doddie loved his time at Melrose and Newcastle and these two games will give both sets of supporters a chance to get together, watch some fantastic rugby and remember him.
"It has been a very challenging few weeks since we lost Doddie, but we will continue fundraising to secure his legacy of a world free on MND."
The first fixture arranged by Southern Knights will take place on Saturday, February 4 in Melrose and second Newcastle Falcons fixture will be played at Kingston Park on Saturday, February 11. Both fixtures have a scheduled kick-off at 1.30pm.
Tickets and more information for the game in Melrose can be found here. And tickets and additional information for the fixture at Kingston Park can be found here.
All season tickets, seasonal parking passes and seasonal hospitality places will be valid for the fixture at Kingston Park. Season ticket holders do not need to do anything as cards will be valid for the game. Seasonal hospitality guests will be contacted by the club.
Five pounds from every ticket or hospitality place will also be donated to the foundation, which continues to raise funds and awareness around MND.
In addition, Newcastle Falcons is producing a bespoke warm-up t-shirt to mark the occasion, which the team will wear during their warm-up at Kingston Park. Those worn by the players will then be signed and auctioned off to raise additional funds, with all profits going directly to the foundation.
A limited number of the t-shirts will also be available for supporters to purchase for £30, with £5 from each shirt going to My Name'5 Doddie. The shirt will be available in sizes XXS to 5XL, early purchase is advised to avoid disappointment.
Dave Walder, head coach at Newcastle Falcons said: "We've always enjoyed a good cross-border battle and given the gap in our fixture list it’s the perfect time to put on these two games against Southern Knights.
"It makes sense from a rugby perspective and is obviously timely given the sad news regarding Doddie's recent passing.
"I played alongside Doddie for a number of years, and it's been amazing to see how much money and awareness he’s raised for research into motor neurone disease.
"It's an honour for Newcastle Falcons to be part of two fixtures which will help generate further funds so the good work of his foundation can continue, and I'm sure our supporters will get behind the cause by purchasing their match tickets and warm-up T-shirts."
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