I spent four months on Glasgow Warriors sidelines and noted youngsters who can deliver
Scott Cummings on the young forward who stepped up in URC quarter-final win
Scott Cummings’ four-month absence from the Glasgow Warriors team was tough to take but it did open the door for the club’s younger second-row forwards to make their mark.
Cummings returned to the team on Friday, helping Glasgow defeat Connacht in the United Rugby Championship quarter-finals to set up a semi-final against the Bulls at Murrayfield this Saturday.
In his time on the sidelines, the 49-times capped lock got a good look at Alex Samuel and Jare Oguntibeju who stepped up.
They were both involved in the Connacht win, with Samuel partnering Cummings in the second and Oguntibeju off the bench in the second half.
Half-ran, half-ambled
And it was Oguntibeju who delivered the game’s most memorable moment when he picked up the ball at the base of a ruck on the Connacht 22 and half-ran, half-ambled his way to the line for the Warriors’ fourth try which helped put the home side 14 points clear of their opponents.
At 6ft 8in and 19-and-a-half stone, Oguntibeju offers a huge physical presence but is also capable of producing the unexpected and his unorthodox surge caught Connacht out.
“It's funny because in training we're always like, ‘oh Jare stop trying things like that’ and then he comes out and creates a special moment like that that secures the win for us,” said Cummings. “He's the sort of player that can do something a bit different, he's maybe not your typical player but he can create moments like that and we love him for that.
“It was an interesting running technique but he's probably still quicker than me anyway.”
For Samuel, it’s been another season of progress. He was part of the Scotland squad during the autumn series and been a regular fixture in Glasgow’s matchday squads.
“He’s been good, hasn’t he?” said Cummings. “We've had a number of good young guys coming through in the past couple of years and it's definitely been a coming of age for Al.
His body doesn't look like it should be doing it
“He's a great player, he puts in some big shots, I don't know how he does it. His body doesn't look like it should be doing it but he's very physical around the pitch and a great presence in the lineout. He's stepped up in that sort of area where there's a lot of injured boys going 80 minutes pretty much every week. He's played really well and it's good to be back playing with a really quality lot like that.”
Cummings’ appearance against Connacht was his first since helping Scotland defeat France 50-40 in a Six Nations thriller at Murrayfield on March 7. His last game for Glasgow prior to Friday was back in January. Recovering from his calf injury took longer than he anticipated but the enforced lay-off has at least given his body time to recover after a long campaign. He was part of the British and Irish Lions squad which toured Australia last summer, then rolled straight into the new season with Glasgow, the autumn Test campaign with Scotland, the Champions Cup pool phase and then the Six Nations.
“It was about 12 weeks since I last played and it was a pretty frustrating time,” he said.
Injury lay-off was frustrating
“I was targeting three or four weeks, so it was frustrating not to be back as early as I wanted to but you can’t do anything about that. The final run-in is the business end of the season and what you want to be back for.
“I'm feeling good right now. There'll be a lot of boys towards the end of the season nursing a lot of things and really battling to get out there on Saturday to play. Obviously I've got that bit more, the body's not quite as broken down after the past couple of weeks so I'll definitely try and use that as much as I can.”
The Bulls are old foes of Glasgow’s. The Warriors famously got the better of them in the URC final in Pretoria in 2024 but the South African side won 26-19 at Scotstoun last season. Franco Smith’s side have defeated the Bulls twice at home during this campaign, in the league in October and in the last 16 of the European Champions Cup in April.
Can’t keep harping on about 2024
Cummings doesn’t read too much into past results and although the triumph at Loftus Versfeld is etched in Glasgow’s history, he doesn’t see it as relevant to Saturday’s game.
“That was obviously two years ago and we've played them probably about four times since then. So you don't want to just keep harping on about one game two years ago. Obviously it was a massive game for us, one of the biggest moments in the club's history for us but we've played them since then
“They'll probably use that as fuel but we're obviously here to get a win and we know what we've got to do for that.
“We know exactly what they're coming with and I'm sure they'll say the same about us, they know exactly who we're coming with. We've obviously played them in two pretty close encounters this year so far so we're expecting another tough game.”
Like others at the club, Cummings is hoping the wider Scottish rugby community comes out to support them at Murrayfield, including those of an Edinburgh persuasion.
“Definitely,” he said “Obviously there's a bit of rivalry between Glasgow and Edinburgh at the end of the day. We want Scottish rugby to do well so we do support them and I know they'll support us. Hopefully we can get all Scottish rugby fans to come out there and support us.
“It's obviously a big moment for us and we've already seen some stuff about some Edinburgh fans who are going to come, which is great because obviously supporting Scottish rugby as a whole is a massive thing.”
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