All roads lead to Rome for ex-Kelso winger Roger Baird and his fundraising cycling team

Baird and his 20-plus-strong Dodd1e’5 Gr4nd S7am team, including former Scottish Rugby Union president Ian Barr, set off from Edinburgh’s Murrayfield Stadium yesterday, February 28, on a near-1,900-mile sponsored bike ride in aid of late Borders rugby legend Doddie Weir’s motor neurone disease research charity, the My Name’5 Doddie Foundation.

They’re one of 19 teams bound for the continent to help event organiser Rob Wainwright deliver the match-ball for Scotland’s Six Nations match away to Italy at the Stadio Olympico on Saturday, March 9.

Among the others are former Scotland captain Wainwright’s core team, featuring Hawick’s Stuart Hogg, and Selkirk’s Cycling Souters, with Iwan Tukalo and Gordon Hunter in their 11-strong party.

Baird’s team plan to visit all four other Six Nations grounds en route from Edinburgh to Rome – Cardiff’s Principality Stadium, Dublin’s Aviva Stadium, Twickenham Stadium in London and the Stade de France in Paris.

The 63-year-old, capped 27 times between 1981 and 1988, said: “It’s been a fantastic effort.

“The people who’ve organised this, I can’t tell you how dedicated they’ve been. These are all people with jobs, and they’ve just been amazing.

“We’re now over £100,000 raised and we will aim to add considerably to that over the course of the trip.

“It’s a fantastic challenge but we’ve done the training and lost a bit of weight so we’re good to go.

“Doddie’s legacy is at £11m and counting.

“When he was diagnosed, there was one drug that was 20 years old. He felt very bitter about that, that the research wasn’t being done, and this is now his legacy, which is phenomenal”.

The numbers in Baird’s team’s name are references to four players diagnosed with MND – Melrose and Scotland lock Weir, England prop Paul Rendall, ex-Leicester Tigers and Gloucester lock Ed Slater and Leeds Rhinos hero Rob Burrow.

Blainslie’s Weir, capped 61 times for Scotland between 1990 and 2000, was diagnosed with MND in 2016 and lost his fight against the disease in November 2022 aged 52.

Perth-born Wainwright, 58, was at Murrayfield yesterday to see Baird’s team off, saying: “The mission statement for this event was to, number one, get everyone safely to Rome.

“Secondly, let’s get a lot of fundraising done. That’s coming along nicely. I think we’re at about £250,000, with only two teams setting off so far. We’ve got another week and a half ahead of us.

“The third one was to have a good time and to all meet for a beer in Piazza Navona at 5pm on Friday, March 8. That’s the golden rule – you can set off when you like but we’ll meet you there on Friday.

“I think we’ve taken over Doddie’s mantle, but he’s still very much here with us, both in our crusade to find solutions for MND and in the smiles you see all around here in a positive environment. That’s what Doddie was all about, having fun.

“Circumstance put him to a very serious challenge but hopefully it ends when we’ve got a cure for MND. It’s going to be a battle but we’ll keep at it.”

To donate to Baird’s team’s online appeal, go to https://www.doddiesgrandslam.com/