The social media storm generated this week by the decision of the Welsh and Scottish unions not to make a direct donation to the motor neurone disease charity set up by Doddie Weir ensured maximum publicity for a match that would otherwise have generated little attention outside the two countries.
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Wales and Scotland will be playing for the Doddie Weir Cup in tribute to the former Scotland and Lions second row who was diagnosed with the disease last year. It is an international arranged outside the official window to fund two unions anxious to maximise their income to pay for the increasingly costly professional game without compromising the grassroots.
As such their original intention was to publicise the My Name’5 Doddie Foundation and hold fundraising events rather than make a direct donation, but the criticism they received from former players and supporters prompted a change of mind earlier this week.
The match is still not expected to be a sell-out but Scotland will receive £1m for agreeing to play the fixture after Wales missed out on their two usual fourth international opponents: South Africa are at Twickenham while Australia are in Cardiff next week as part of the official tour calendar. Wales will bank at least double that, money that has been earmarked to help fund their four regions and the national dual contract system.
“Doddie’s a great man who’s been inspirational in his fight against MND and it’s fantastic that we’re able to pay tribute to him and his achievements with this match,” said the Scotland head coach, Gregor Townsend. “The best way we can do that as a team is to put in a performance against Wales and make him proud. The fact that we are playing for the Doddie Weir Cup gives us an extra incentive.”
Scotland were fancied to record their first victory in the Welsh capital since 2002 during this year’s Six Nations but were beaten 34-7. It highlighted the contrast between their form at Murrayfield and their performances on the road, although they won 44-15 in Argentina in the summer.
“I do not believe we have a problem playing away,” said Townsend. “We have won in Sydney and Resistencia. The issue is the performance when we have gone into a match on the road as favourites. That’s is not the case this week as Wales are third in the world rankings. We underperformed in February and suffered a bad defeat. We don’t want to go through that again.”