THE naked rugby players who startled a cashier and dumbfounded a nation have confessed all to the Herald.

THE naked rugby players who startled a cashier and dumbfounded a nation have confessed all to the Herald.

The university students narrowly averted being put on the sexual offenders' register after a prank backfired and brought them international acclaim.

The group were hit with �80 fixed penalty fines under the Public Order Act and have each written to the 22-year-old female cashier, apologising for causing distress.

Will Sowden, 21, said: "It was a very serious matter and we were all shaking in our boots beforehand. It's lucky it didn't go any further and I think the fine for each of us was more than enough punishment.

"It was a harmless prank, which ended up causing offence. It's a politically correct world and you have to be careful out there. It's very unlikely I'll do it again. I think I can speak collectively for everyone."

The Plymouth University students were celebrating a win when they burst naked into a Devon garage in October.

The cheeky chaps were caught on CCTV looking at porn magazines, but made a hasty retreat to their mini bus when asked to put some clothes on. One used a mobile phone to film the offence at the Texaco services in Kilmington.

But the dare became a police matter - and an appeal to identify the streakers made international headlines.

Will, a geology and geography student, had been on a trip when his dad broke the news. He said: "He affectively said what the police said - it's quite funny, but it's serious and you shouldn't have done it.

"It seemed a bit ridiculous - just a small moment of madness and then we were everywhere.

"It didn't seem real at the time. It was quite odd to see my face on American news.

"Fortunately, because of the blur, nobody saw me completely naked. My general response is they were generous with the blur.

"Some people called me an idiot or pillock. I'm quite close with my family so it wasn't an issue, but some of the others wanted to keep it under wraps."

A police spokesman said: "The punishment received is proportionate to the crime. The men concerned are sorry and we are pleased with the level of cooperation we received from them.