Scotland international admits US tour has rendered him 'useless' as wedding day looms

The beach is beckoning for the Scotland squad, and, with just one game to go in a long and fatiguing season, they could almost be forgiven for allowing their minds to drift off into the surf somewhere. Instead, according to Scott Cummings, they are firmly focused on the task in hand: the match in Montevideo on Saturday, and the chance to complete the four-Test Americas tour with a 100 per cent record.

Not only does the Glasgow lock have a five-week holiday to look forward to, he is getting married in the middle of next month, so being distracted would be understandable. Even so, he is adamant that he and his team-mates are excited by the prospect of taking on a Uruguay side who have always been expected to provide the toughest opposition of the tour.

“There's no beating around the bush, it has been a long season,” said Cummings, who was part of the Warriors squad that won the URC Grand Final last month. “For the Glasgow guys especially, it has been especially long, but we wouldn't have it any other way.

Scott Cummings will tie the knot this summer after a long season with Glasgow and Scotland. (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

“It has been different – there have been times when bodies have maybe been a bit sorer than usual – but we're still raring to go. A lot of the boys have not played every game on this tour, so there's not been back-to-back weeks we've had to put out, so we're feeling pretty fresh. It's the end of the season so there's going to be sore bodies, but we're excited for this final game and hopefully we can send off in a good way.

“We’ve got five weeks off [after the tour], so that’s a pretty decent break. I’m getting married in three and a half weeks now, so it’s getting close.

“Catherine has been great. She’s done all the planning and I’ve done nothing really. I’ve been useless. She’s been messaging me every day with things to organise but I’ve been terrible at it. So fair play to her for putting up with me. But she’s been great and we’re both really looking forward to it.”

The Uruguayans were hammered 79-5 by neighbours Argentina last week, but Cummings still expects a tough confrontation at the Estadio Charrua. “If you look at a lot of their other games, they’ve been quite tough to break down,” the 26-year-old said.

“[They are] a tough team playing a good style of rugby, really physical. We know they’ll be hurting about that result as any team would be, and we’re expecting a pretty fiery start to the game, like we saw against Chile.

“We know we’re going to have to ride that in the first 10-20 minutes. But we have confidence in the quality we have here to come through, and if we just stick to our processes then we’ll be all right on the day.”

A team’s ability to gel on the field often comes from a feeling of togetherness off it, and Cummings believes that this group of players has that. “We’re a really tight group of guys who all just have fun together,” he said.

“We try to get out for coffees during the day. There has been a bit of poker going on as well. Max Williamson is a bit of a hustler. Matt Fagerson is terrible – he’s the worst – he’s got nothing!”

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