PLYMOUTH Argaum player and chairman Nick Hancock described having a TV cameraman following him for a day as ‘surreal’.
World Rugby TV spent Saturday with Hancock as he prepared and then featured as a replacement in Argaum’s 26-5 Cornwall/Devon League win over Tavistock at Bickleigh Down.
The 49-year-old was in the spotlight after winning the Amateur Player of the Year at the National Rugby Awards last month.
Hancock scooped the prize after being a key player last season for Argaum in their debut campaign in the Cornwall/Devon League after only taking up rugby at 43 years-old when the city club were rock bottom of Devon Two.
Hancock admitted Saturday was really weird and surreal.
“He (the cameraman) came around to my house at 9am in the morning and set the lounge up for an interview,” said Hancock.
World Rugby TV filming at Argaum on Saturday
“He took some things from the dining room and put them into the lounge and set it up in a way that my house is going to look really good. It will be like those interviews on TV where you think someone lives in a really nice house.
“The way he staged this little corner area was funny and then he basically asked me questions in front of the camera. There were proper lights and stuff and then (my wife) Lucy was interviewed for five or 10 minutes because we are a partnership and we do the rugby together.
“He watched us prepare the matchday food. We were doing food for 80 people. We had chilli on the go as one team was having that and nachos, while the other team had chicken fajita pasta bake.
“It was very, very weird. When we were preparing the food, he was like ‘don’t worry about me’ but the next thing he was taking a close up of me chopping peppers.
“He then sat with me as I drove to the ground. I had the camera in my face while I was driving and then we had to do a few TV moments, like I had to drop him off and then reverse back up the lane and drive back down it to show me arriving.
“He was with me all day, but the one thing he didn’t really interfere with was the game.
“However, I went on for a yellow card and he interviewed me after I came off and I had all the supporters behind me and I was just thinking this is just so surreal.”
Hancock hopes the TV feature will help promote Argaum and grassroots rugby.
“When they contacted Devon and asked if I would do this on the back on the National Rugby Awards I said ‘yes’ because it would show off my club,” he said.
“It isn’t about me, I said that when I got the award. It is team game and therefore it was a team award. You can’t be an individual in this sport. You can have individual moments of brilliance but you can’t be an individual.
“It was good to have the lads shown off and we got a win as well. Apparently it goes out on Sky Sports on October 20, which is a Thursday show, and then it will be YouTube.
“It has all just been so surreal, right from winning the award. I am just a bloke who loves his rugby and loves the club he plays for.”