Hunky teammates strip off for Edinburgh Rugby charity calendar

Published on Tuesday 1 December 2009 08:49

YOU could be forgiven for thinking they were hunky models hired to promote the benefits of country life.

But this trio of daring dog walkers are in fact Edinburgh Rugby stars who have stripped off for a team calendar to raise funds for cancer victims.

Edinburgh centre Nick De Luca said his teammates were more than willing to flash the flesh to raise funds for the Maggie's Centre.

Chris Paterson, Mike Blair, Tim Visser, Ben Cairns and Ross Ford were among the players who swapped their rugby jerseys for little more than smiles as part of the 2010 charity calendar, which features the topless stars doing their favourite hobbies, ranging from dog walking to fishing.

Scotland international De Luca, who was the driving force behind the calendar, said the team had some fun in the process.

He said: "It was a bit of fun and we were trying to show the nation a different side to Edinburgh's rugby players. It also shows what else we get up to in our spare time and we hope to raise a lot of money in the process for Maggie's."

The 25-year-old said the idea for the calendar came about after Edinburgh's Heineken Cup match at Stade Franais in October.

The French giants are famous for producing a calendar featuring players au naturel, and this prompted the Edinburgh squad to have a go themselves.

De Luca added: "After we played Stade, we were given copies of their calendar and we decided that we wanted to produce an Edinburgh one.

"We were fortunate that our supporters' club were keen to see it happen and we managed to get it done in a short turnaround of just three weeks.

"What was really pleasing was the willingness of all 36 players in our squad to get involved. They weren't afraid to get embarrassed by posing in some unusual shots."

Earlier this year, the Edinburgh team helped raise funds for Maggie's by growing facial hair for their inaugural Sideburns Night.

Andrew Anderson, the centre head of Maggie's Cancer Caring Centre at the capital's Western General Hospital, said:

"The money raised goes towards the running costs of our centre and helps us to expand upon our varied programme of support.

"We can only continue to operate all of our services free of charge and introduce new additions to our programme due to the continued generosity from the likes of the Edinburgh Rugby Club."

He added: "The calendar is a great, fun way to raise money."

The calendar is available from the Scottish Rugby Store, next to Murrayfield's West Stand, or by calling 0131-346 5044.