Scotland rugby hero Greig Laidlaw has thrown his support behind Perthshire curler Eve Muirhead’s World Championship and Olympic bid.
Fresh from kicking all of Scotland’s points in Saturday’s Six Nations defeat to Wales at Murrayfield, the scrum-half donated his match kit to be auctioned to raise funds for Team Muirhead after hearing that the Blair Atholl athlete and one of her team-mates were watching the game.
The curlers are representing Scotland in the World Championship in Latvia, and start their gold medal quest against tournament favourites Canada.
Laidlaw, who has been an outstanding performer in this year’s Six Nations, will be following their fortunes with interest and was delighted to be able to support the team, with the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics less than a year away.
He told Courier Sport: “Good luck to Eve and her team at the World Curling Championships in Latvia.
“A top eight finish will guarantee Great Britain a place in the Winter Olympics in Sochi next year and hopefully, if Eve and the girls can do the business in Riga, that will give her a great chance of competing in the Olympics.”
Muirhead said: “It was really generous of Greig to donate his kit for auction. We’re very grateful. I really enjoyed Saturday’s match apart from the result obviously!
“I was chatting to Greig after the game and it came over just how much he wants to win for Scotland and how competitive he is, just like I am.”