Rugby official to miss derby clash for Costner role

A London rugby club official is to miss his club's derby with their rivals to star alongside Kevin Costner in a new TV mini-series about a 19th-century feud.

Nigel Harrison, fourth official at London Welsh, has been cast in The Hatfields And McCoys, which focuses on disputes between two families that nearly brought West Virginia and Kentucky to war almost 150 years ago.

The 53-year-old will play Lyle Simcott of the Pinkerton National Detective Agency in the History channel series and will travel to Romania for filming this week. But this clashes with London Welsh's eagerly anticipated match with recently promoted London Scottish on Saturday.

Costner and former Titanic star Bill Paxton play members of the rival families. Mr Harrison landed the role after one audition in Leicester Square. His DVD was then sent to director Kevin Reynolds.
He said: "For the audition there was an instruction from the director that he didn't want the character to be over the top but more like Tommy Lee Jones's character in No Country For Old Men. So I watched that beforehand and played it dead straight and thankfully the director said it was perfect, exactly what he was looking for."

Harrison's acting career started when he gained a place at drama school in 1979, but he has been fourth official at London Welsh, which involves overseeing substitutions, for the past five seasons. His acting credits include A Touch Of Frost, The Paradise Club, The Bill, The Green Green Grass, while his first job was playing Jesus.He said: "I love acting but I loved rugby at the same time, so it was very difficult. But acting paid the bills."