Scott Cummings relishing reunion with ex boss and explains what's changed from last Scotland v New Zealand tie

Scott Cummings is looking forward to facing off against his former Glasgow Warriors boss Dave Rennie when Scotland take on the All Blacks this weekend.

Rennie, 62, was in charge at Scotstoun between 2017 and 2020, leading them to the 2019 Pro 14 final which they lost to Leinster at Celtic Park. He was appointed head coach of his native New Zealand earlier this year after spells with Australia and Japanese club side Kobe Steelers.

Cummings described his ex gaffer as a “quality coach” and is relishing the opportunity to take on a team under his management. He said: “It's obviously great for him. He was our coach at Glasgow and he's a really quality coach.

“He'll know some of our players, we'll know some things about him” - Cummings excited to take on former Glasgow boss

“He had a massive focus on attacking rugby and that fitted with how we played at Glasgow. I really enjoyed my time with him and I’m happy to see he's gone on to higher honours.

“He'll know some of our players, we'll know some things about him, but a lot has changed. Probably the game's changed a bit since he was coaching us. It'll be exciting to get to play against them. The recent games between the teams have been really close.”

This Saturday’s match at Murrayfield in the first round of the November leg of the Nations Championship comes one year after the last meeting between the Scots and the All Blacks. That fixture saw the visitors run out 25-17 winners in Edinburgh in a close contest as the home side once again fell agonisingly short against the nation who they have never tasted victory over.

However, Cummings believes things have changed significantly for Scotland over the past 12 months, explaining: “We've definitely talked a lot about how momentum changes in games and how to react when things don't go your way and how things do go your way. That was massive last time where we managed to come back [to draw 17-17], then they scored late, which meant that they put us away.

“We're definitely taking learnings from that and from the Argentina game where we were so far ahead and then, obviously, they came back and won quite convincingly in the end. I definitely feel that we've grown as a squad and are trying to manage those situations.

“We're really excited. They're a massive team. It's obviously an exciting occasion getting to play the All Blacks. The build-up probably feels a bit different than the last couple of times.

“The last couple of times we played them it's been, you know, three or four years. This time, we got to play them last year, so we know what to expect from them and they're obviously a quality outfit.”

The 2025 British & Irish Lions tourist added that although their record against New Zealand is something that has been discussed in the group, they are trying their best to not focus on it. The key message being to treat this the same as any other Test match.

He added: “If we play our best rugby we can compete with the best teams in the world and we can beat anyone. So, we don't want to go into this game just with the thought of 'oh, we'll give it a crack'. I think it's a positive for us to go out there and try and make history.”

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