Cummings to fore at just the right moment
Second-row admits rapid rise to World Cup slot has surprised him
FROM the moment he left school at Kelvinside Academy and went straight into training with the Glasgow Warriors first-team squad, Scott Cummings has always been viewed as a star in the making. His dynamic, all-action display in the victory over Georgia on Friday night only served to reaffirm that theory.
A lock forward who can run on to the ball at pace, carry well and make up the hard yards, and consistently get over the gain line is something that Scotland haven’t had for many a long year.
That’s the way the modern secondrow must operate and it’s something the national team have been crying out for to supplement the defensive grit of Jonny Gray.
Watching Cummings (below) batter holes in the Georgian defence, it felt remarkable to think that he actually wasn’t even included in Scotland’s original 42-man training squad for the World Cup when it was named back in May.
His performances over the warmup games, though, surely means that he is now firmly in contention to start for Gregor Townsend’s men against Ireland in Yokohama in a fortnight.
He featured in all four games against France and Georgia and scored his first try in Test match rugby in the victory in Tbilisi last weekend.
As he admits himself, though, it has all come as a surprise. He was still largely a squad player at Glasgow up until the second half of last season.
Reflecting on a whirlwind six months, the 22-year-old said: ‘The World Cup probably wasn’t even on my radar last winter, never mind last summer.
‘There was a bit of time at Glasgow where I wasn’t getting picked, so I just had to knuckle down and, when the Six Nations came round, I started to get a better run of games.
‘I’ve just been trying to keep my head down and not look too far ahead. Japan is obviously going to be a massive event, but the whole team has been focused on Georgia, knowing that was going to be an important game.
‘I wasn’t involved in the initial squad that was named, but Gregor gave me a call, said there was still a slot and to work hard until the end of the season.
‘When he added me to the squad, I was genuinely just thinking about training as hard as I could to try to get a warm-up game. ‘I wasn’t even thinking about Ireland on Friday night. I was just going out to play as well as I could for the team.’ The key staging point in Cummings’ rapid elevation from Scotstoun squad player to World Cup superstar can be traced back to the end of March and Glasgow’s Heineken Champions Cup quarter-final against Saracens at Allianz Park.
His team-mate Gray was on the way back from injury and could have been selected, but head coach Dave Rennie placed a huge show of faith in Cummings.
The result may not have gone in Glasgow’s favour, but it didn’t detract from the fact that Cummings was now in the Warriors team entirely on merit.
Once he had the jersey, he didn’t let go. Cummings swiftly became a fixture in the team and went on to start in the Pro14 final against Leinster at Celtic Park in May.
Having timed his run to perfection, he is the bolter in this Scotland squad who will fly out to the Far East tomorrow morning.
‘Obviously that was great,’ said Cummings, acknowledging the confidence he took from being selected for that Sarries game. ‘Dave Rennie always tells us that if you’re playing well, you’ll get kept on the pitch.
‘Boys go to Scotland and if they do well there, they’ll come back. But I’ve just been hitting away and trying to impress as much as I could so that I could keep a starting space.
‘With Glasgow and with Scotland, there are so many great secondrows. It’s one thing we’ve got a large abundance of. I’ve just been trying to get my head down and play my game.’
Humble, modest, and well-spoken in everything he says, Cummings almost seems too nice to be a second-row. He also does a nice line in self-deprecation.
When asked if the squad had decided on room-mates, he replied: ‘We’ve not spoken about it yet. I’m the youngest, so I don’t think I’ll have any say in it!
‘It’s all still a bit surreal, the fact we’re going to be in Japan for who knows how long. It could be six, eight, 10 weeks.
‘It’s going to be something special and I can’t wait to get out there.
‘My Under-20 World Cups were Italy and Manchester, so I haven’t experienced much out of Europe.
‘My mum and dad are hopefully coming out for two of the games, Russia and Japan. It’s a dream come true as much for them as me.
‘Everyone is excited and my family will be watching. My girlfriend has already planned all the times she will watch the games in the morning. It’s obviously quite early.’
After a lacklustre defeat to France in Nice, Scotland went on to win the remaining three warm-up games. They have built up a decent head of stead steam prior to flying to Japan, but Cummings feels the best is yet to come.
‘I don’t think we played our best rugby at all times,’ he added. ‘We had a lot of mistakes on Friday night but what was great for us was when people got injured and had to go off, the pack really adjusted, everyone covered different positions and fronted up well.’
I wasn’t getting picked at Glasgow, so the World Cup wasn’t even on my radar