RUGBY player Jock Welsh has shown his ability in another field as he flies the flag for Scotland.

The teenager, who plays for Cumnock Rugby FC, will live up to his nickname of The Sorn Shepherd when he appears on the TV competition, One Man and His Dog.

He appeared on national TV when a preview of the competition was shown at the weekend, with programme presenter Adam Henson describing the environment that Jock works in as very ‘challenging countryside’.

Viewers were told that Jock’s family had been working sheepdogs for a long time, and he was asked if that put pressure on him as the competition approached.

Jock replied: “There is a lot of help, and a wee bit of pressure, but it makes you that wee bit better. I started working with dogs when I was around 11 and loved it.”

Speaking of the local fields and terrain that he works, he agreed that it was an ‘unforgiving area to train a sheepdog in’.

“There are a lot of burns and hills and sometimes the sheepdogs disappear in bracken and such like. But you just keep whistling...and hope,” Jock added.

Teaming up with Jock is a rare brown and white sheepdog, which is the offspring of his granddad’s dog.

Called Mel, she has been with Jock since she was a pup and has a good temperament after being trained by the 15-year-old and his father.

His competition has already been screened but everyone is sworn to secrecy in advance of the programme appearing on our screens on September 25.

Filming took place in Ireland when Jock teamed up with a senior partner in the competition, which involves herding sheep through a series of gates, splitting them into two groups and shutting them in a pen.

They were up against three other pairs of dog handlers, representing the hosts and current holders Ireland, England and Wales.

Watch Countryfile on BBC One, presented by Matt Baker, on Sunday, September 25, to see if Jock took the title.