Rugby fans can now watch highlights of Scottish club matches on the internet, thanks to new BT technology being used for the first time in Scotland.

Scottish Rugby has signed a 12-month contract for BT Rich Media, a digital media platform which allows anyone from a large corporate to a small business to reach an audience of millions online.

As well as being a Scottish debut, it’s also the first time the technology has been used in the UK to bring club rugby to fans of the oval ball game around the globe.

Selected matches in the BT Premiership are being filmed by Ayrshire-based commercial video producers Stable Recordings and edited down to around six minutes of highlights and commentary for each match.

The video action is available online on the Monday after a match on the Scottish Rugby web site www.scottishrugby.org and the websites of the clubs involved in the featured games.

Plans are also being drawn up to screen the best action from BT Cup ties and to feature the wider world of rugby.

The technology allows any club to film and edit their own matches at the touch of a button, upload the video to the BT Rich Media servers and make it accessible on the club website to their fans, wherever they are. In the longer term easy-to-use management tools will include keying in the word ‘tries’ to locate and edit every try-scoring move in a match.

Pierre Danon, chief executive of BT Retail, said today: ‘This is the sixth year BT has sponsored domestic rugby in Scotland, bringing Scottish club rugby together through the internet and encouraging development of the game at grassroots level. BT Scotland has provided clubs with internet services and communications support, linking around 250 clubs across the country through the main Scottish Rugby website, and giving players access to everything from team sheets to training information.

‘Scottish Rugby is now pioneering the use of this revolutionary new product in Scotland and rugby fans can look forward each week to logging on for the best try-scoring action.

‘BT Rich Media, the UK’s first and only platform of its type, is bringing quality content to a worldwide audience, firmly establishing BT in the digital management arena and driving the distribution of content.’

Scottish Rugby chairman David Mackay said: ‘The Scottish Rugby website is an outstanding success story. Month on month the number of people logging on has grown consistently to such an extent that we are now averaging some 11 million hits per month with a maximum of around 80,000 unique users.

‘The portal, www.scottishrugby.org, through which supporters can find the individual websites of some 250 Scottish clubs, has demonstrated that there is a voracious appetite for news, information and views on Scottish Rugby.

‘I am delighted at BT’s innovative support which is enabling us to extend the service we are providing and makes our website an indispensable resource for those seeking information on all facets of Scottish Rugby.’

Former Scotland and British Lions captain Gavin Hastings said: ‘The Scottish club rugby website is already a huge hit with players and fans and the addition of video highlights makes it even more attractive, especially when you can download the action in seconds with broadband.

‘The adoption of these new technologies is key to the promotion of our club rugby, not just in Scotland but around the world.’

Earlier this year the All England Lawn Tennis Club signed up with BT Rich Media to stream video highlights and live audio from the Wimbledon Championships.

More than 12,000 hours of content was downloaded during the Wimbledon fortnight alone, with viewers from as far away as Japan and Australia flocking to the site to watch full-length matches or edited highlights, player interviews and behind the scenes footage. Previously, only very limited highlights and interview clips were available.

In August, the digital platform brought uninterrupted free live audio coverage of Cowes Week, the UK’s premier sailing event, to surfing sailing fans around the world and it’s also the platform for live and archive action from football’s Conference League.

For further information please contact Mitch Reid or Anna Steven at the BT Scotland Press Office on our 24-hour number 08457 262624 or Graham Law at Scottish Rugby on 0131 346 5164