ONE of the Scottish Borders' greatest ever rugby players has confirmed he has been diagnosed with debilitating motor neurone disease.

Doddie Weir won 61 caps for Scotland during a distinguished career.

The 46-year-old father of three from Stow, who is currently on a family holiday in New Zealand, was checked by doctors after friends and family raised concerns over his health.

And he decided this week - to coincide with Global Motor Neurone Disease (MND) Awareness Day - to publicly announce his condition.

Doddie said: "Over the past few months a number of friends and family have raised concerns surrounding my health.

"I think then, that on this day set to help raise awareness of the condition, I should confirm that I too have motor neurone disease.

"I should like to take this opportunity to thank the National Health Service in recognising then diagnosing this, as yet, incurable disease.

"I am currently on holiday in New Zealand with Kathy and the boys and when we return, I will devote my time towards assisting research and raising awareness and funds to help support fellow sufferers.

"There are plans in place to create a charitable foundation to help in any way we can and we will share these details with you after our family trip."

Doddie Weir grew up on a farm outside Fountainhall.

He broke through as a promising forward during his schooling days at Stewart's Melville.

But it was after joining Melrose that the powerful, six-foot-six Weir was to really make his name.

His career was to take him on to Newcastle Falcons and the Border Reivers as well as 61 appearances for Scotland.

Doddie was also called up to the British and Irish Lions for the tour of South Africa in 1997 - and only a knee injury during a provincial warm-up game prevented him from playing in a test match.

Since his retirement from the game in 2004, he has become a hugely popular after-dinner speaker and regular pundit on television and radio.

On his return from New Zealand, Doddie will join with researchers at the Euan MacDonald Centre, based at the University of Edinburgh, as they attempt to better understand the disease and hope to eventually lead to new therapies.

Professor Siddharthan Chandran, director of the Euan MacDonald Centre, said: "We are immensely grateful to Doddie for his support at this difficult time for him and his family.

"Working in partnership with other researchers and charities such as MND Scotland, our goal is to bring forward the day when there are effective treatments for this very tough condition."

Motor neurone disease - also known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) or Lou Gehrig's Disease - is a progressive disease which occurs when specialised nerve cells called motor neurons break down.

These cells usually transmit messages from the brain and spinal cord to tell muscles in the body what to do. In MND, messages from the nerves gradually stop reaching the muscles, which causes them to weaken and waste away.

Eventually, this leads to paralysis and difficulties with speech, swallowing and breathing.

There are no therapies that can stop progression of MND and little is known about why the disease strikes some people but not others.

The former second-row and Number 8 forward follows in the footsteps of another rugby legend in his support for the Euan MacDonald Centre.

South Africa's Joost Van Der Westhuizen visited in 2013 to share knowledge and expertise.

Van Der Westhuizen - who was an opponent of Doddie's in the 1990s - also had MND and passed away in 2017.