Rugby’s inter-district rivalries revived by Rob Wainwright for Doddie Weir challenge

Doddie Weir is backing his old South team to win the Doddie Aid Challenge.

Sporting stars including Ally McCoist, Eve Muirhead, John Barclay and Mark Beaumont have lent their support to the campaign which is the brainchild of Weir’s former Scotland and British and Irish Lions teammate, Rob Wainwright

The Doddie Aid Challenge, which will raise funds for My Name’5 Doddie Foundation, begins on January 1 and will run until the start of the Six Nations on February 6.

Participants will be divided into the five teams of Scotland’s much-missed inter-district championship: South, Edinburgh, Glasgow, North and Midlands and the Exiles.

Former Scotland captain Rob Wainwright, right, with cyclist Mark Beaumont during an earlier fundraiser for the My Name'5 Doddie Foundation.

Potential participants should go to www.doddieaid.com to find out how to join their chosen district and also to get a free team snood. All exercise miles should then be recorded via a campaign-specific app from Friday.

Any form of exercise counts towards a district’s total on the leaderboard, from running to rollerblading, cycling to skiing or just adding up daily steps.

Throughout the event, the captains of each district will be busy signing other high-profile stars in a bid to boost their team’s efforts. The team which has logged the most collective miles by February 6 will be crowned Doddie Aid Inter-District Champions.

“Doddie Aid is an opportunity to burn off all that festive excess while supporting Doddie and his Foundation in their efforts to find effective treatments for MND,” said Wainwright, the former Scotland captain.

The inter-district challenge is the brainchild of former Scotland captain Rob Wainwright.

“As with anything involving Doddie, it has to be fun, and the management teams for the five districts are already playing dirty in their recruitment efforts.

“The eligibility rules have already courted controversy with captains attempting to poach stars from other districts.

“So you can tell the Exiles that Geraint Thomas is signing for the North & Midlands whatever his agent says to the contrary!”

Weir, who revealed his MND diagnosis in June 2017, added: “What better way to start 2021? The inter-district championship was a tremendous and highly competitive tournament; reigniting these tribal rivalries is a fantastic idea and I hope you all get involved and join the South - be part of a winning team! Wainwright wouldn’t even have made it onto the bench in our day.”

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