Edinburgh University Rugby Club and Glasgow Hawks made their small screen acting debuts yesterday (Wednesday 28 May) filming an advert for Scottish Hydro Electric, sponsors of community rugby in Scotland.

John Geddie, 20-year-old Edinburgh University winger, currently on a placement with the Scottish Rugby Communications Department, takes up the story . . .

On a rain-soaked morning the teams met the camera crew and entourage at a rugby field on the south side of Glasgow along with football, shinty and a rather sullen-looking cricket team, clearly concerned about the worsening conditions.

After copious amounts of bacon rolls and cups of tea the rugby teams, donned in very traditional rugby attire, took the field for the first shot of the day.

Between breaks they went at each other to try and steal the limelight and display their talents, in the hope they would be caught on camera.

However, as the day wore on and the cotton shirts became heavier the exuberance of the morning was lost and the teams resorted to touch& which at one point became walking touch.

The efforts of the teams were telling as the make-up crews began to apply brown paint in the absence of any dirtied knees and faces.

Luckily the director was kept happy as the wide pan shots were not able to pick up on the, at times, lacklustre level of rugby.

After a three course lunch and another lengthy interval, things began to pick up a bit. The hired actor was introduced to the scene and the teams were asked (with all legislative bases covered) to perform a daring wheeling scrum that collapsed on its side to gaze up at a kick soaring over the posts&artistic licence they were told.

As they began to lose the light, giant lamps and reflective boards were introduced to capture the last few shots of the day. Unfortunately, that attracted a rather unfriendly visitor&midges.

At one point as a post-game tunnel scene was being filmed the players seemed more interested in scratching their legs than congratulating their high-profile actor team mate.

It was a long day for both sides but a real experience. In spite of the conditions and the early morning call everyone seemed excited about the prospect of appearing in the upcoming advert.

The only source of annoyance was the somewhat erratic display of the goal-kicking stunt doubles, supplied by the rugby teams, who after the fifth take from in front of the posts were left wondering just how the pros cope!

This article was posted on 29-May-2008, 13:27 by Hugh Barrow.