Doddie Weir match will feature a Scotland international on each side as Southern Knights face Newcastle Falcons

Doddie Weir is chaired off by Newcastle Falcons fans after helping the club win the Premiership title in 1997/98. Picture: Tom Shaw/Allsport/Getty Images/Hulton Archive

The teams will play for the Doddie’s Club Trophy, with the Scotland great having played the majority of his club career at Melrose and Newcastle.

The visitors have included four-cap Scotland man Gary Graham at No 8 while former national captain Henry Pyrgos will skipper the Knights.

The vastly experienced scrum-half is one of several Edinburgh players in the home ranks which feature Charlie Savala, Jack Blain and Matt Currie, three backs who were all part of Gregor Townsend’s 36-man Scotland squad for a two-day training camp earlier this month.

The other Edinburgh men in the squad are Adam McBurney, Dan Gamble, Jamie Campbell, Ben Muncaster, Connor Boyle, Cammy Scott, Chris Dean and Freddie Owsley.

The fixture will raise money and awareness for the My Name’5 Doddie Foundation and Mike Blair has urged fans of the capital club to support the game.

“We’d encourage the Edinburgh Rugby supporters to get down to Melrose on Friday night to cheer on the boys, while getting behind a really special and worthy cause,” said the Edinburgh coach. It kicks off at 7.30pm and tickets are £15 and £10. Under-18s go free.

Doddie Weir in his famous tartan suit.

There is a match of significance to Scottish rugby in the English Premiership tonight as Gloucester host Exeter Chiefs at Kingsholm.

The home side include Adam Hastings, Chris Harris and Andrew Davidson in their XV while Scotland pair Stuart Hogg and Sam Skinner play for Exeter, with scrum-half Sam Hidalgo-Clyne on the bench.

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