WE WANT THE LAST LAUGH
Cummings eyes derby glory to seal Glasgow’s home run to Celtic Park
THERE are multiple reasons why the Glasgow Warriors players will be licking their lips at the prospect of facing Edinburgh next weekend. As far as they’re concerned, the game can hardly come quickly enough. First on the list of rewards is the fact that a victory over their rivals at Scotstoun on Saturday night would ensure that the Warriors won’t need to travel again for the rest of the season.
A home semi-final would be secured, with the tantalising prospect of the final taking place in their home city at Celtic Park on May 25.
It’s a unique opportunity and, at the end of a long and arduous season, not having to venture too far from their own surroundings would be entirely welcome.
There is also the Scotland factor. The match represents one final chance for players to impress Gregor Townsend ahead of the World Cup and outshine their direct rivals for a place in the squad.
Nowhere is this more evident than in the second row, where Glasgow’s Scott Cummings and Jonny Gray will, in all likelihood, collide with Edinburgh’s Ben Toolis and Grant Gilchrist.
There’s also the small matter of the 1872 Cup. Edinburgh already have it tucked away in their trophy cabinet and the outcome of next weekend’s game will do nothing to alter that.
But to say this meeting of the two teams will be any less ferocious? Yeah, good one. Try telling that to anyone of a Glasgow persuasion.
Having lost both games to Edinburgh over the festive period earlier this season, there is an obvious desire to regain some bragging rights in this climax to the three-match series.
Indeed, it extends beyond this season. Edinburgh have won the 1872 Cup in four of the last five years and, since Dave Rennie and Richard Cockerill arrived at their clubs in 2017, it is the men from the capital who have won four of the five
matches to date. Safe to say, then, that the Warriors have no intention of limping into the end-of-season play-offs having been whitewashed by their rivals in this campaign. Asked if they have a point to prove, Cummings admitted: ‘Yeah. Edinburgh were getting penalties in the scrums and lineouts in the games earlier this term but we weren’t as accurate as we wanted to be and we weren’t playing the style of rugby that we are now. ‘We have shown in the past couple of games that we can be a dominant pack. Everyone always thinks of Glasgow as flash, scoring tries. But we’ve got that solid defence and solid set-piece to back up the flash tries from the backs. ‘So it’s a more rounded team that we are definitely showing and everyone is playing their part to create a good all-round team just now.
‘Derbies are always physical and Edinburgh play so well against us, we know that. It’s a big game for both of us and we have a point to prove.’ Having lost so resoundingly to Saracens in the quarter-finals of the Champions Cup at the end of last month, Glasgow’s response since then could scarcely have been more emphatic.
The heavy defeat at Allianz Park has been followed by two outstanding victories against Ulster at home and away to Leinster last weekend.
‘We know that we didn’t perform against Saracens,’ continued Cummings, who started the match in north London only to go off with concussion after just 14 minutes.
‘We know that we can be much better than that. We have proven that over the last two weeks. In a way, it gave us a kick.
‘If we want to be serious about the Pro14 and the Champions Cup in the next couple of years, there were certain things that had to change.
‘We definitely have stood up our defence. In the last two weeks, our defence has been rock solid and that is what we aim to continue.’
The Saracens game, in particular, was an indication of just how much progress Cummings has made and how highly Rennie rates him, given that he was selected ahead of Gray on merit. Still just 22 years old, he is now beginning to fulfil his boundless potential that several coaches at Glasgow had identified from an early age.
‘I am quite happy,’ said Cummings, who is a native Glaswegian. ‘When Dave (Rennie) came in, he has given me quite a lot of confidence this year.
‘I feel that I have started to break through and get the confidence of the coaches some more. Getting picked for that Saracens game was a big personal achievement, being such a big game.
With Edinburgh needing to win to have any chance of making the play-offs, as well as relying on results elsewhere, Cummings is wary of what could perhaps be a wounded animal.
In their previous match, Cockerill’s men crashed to a ruinous home defeat against Ulster in what was one of the poorest displays during his time at the club.
‘With the final being in Glasgow, it would obviously be great,’ added Cummings. ‘But we are not thinking too much about that.
‘Edinburgh are just as desperate as us. If we lose, we probably don’t get that home semi-final. It is going to be two teams that are desperate for everything.’