Pressed to name a MVP for the 2014 Super Rugby season, it’s a fair bet that many pundits would have the Western Force’s Nick Cummins very near the top of their lists.
Similarly, there seems to be general agreement that Cummins will be one of the first players named in Ewen McKenzie’s first Australian side of the year, for the June 7 Test against France.
There are a number of reasons for this:
– A devastating, three-try, man of the match performance against the Waratahs
– Unrelenting combativeness and 100 per cent effort every game
– His distinctive, Johnny Platten-like appearance
– His candid post-match interviews, laced with more homegrown Aussie slang than an Austen Tayshus gig
Cummins is undoubtedly popular. He has put his hand up, demanding Wallaby selection, and his selection will duly be on merit.
Which is not the same thing as saying that opposition coaches Steve Hansen and Heyneke Meyer will be suffering through sleepless nights as a result.
The All Blacks and Springboks will pay Cummins due respect – as they do any player worthy of Test selection – but they will certainly not fear him.
This is because – at the risk of being fingered as the evil person who shot Bambi – scratching beneath the surface, there is a case to be made against Cummins being a Test quality winger.
Despite running 95 metres for one of his tries against the Waratahs, and despite a background which includes athletics and sevens rugby, Cummins lacks real pace. His other two tries that night were made more difficult than they should have been as a result.
Similarly he fluffed a try at the corner against the Chiefs, more resembling a tubby accounts clerk flailing and floundering after a slow moving tram than a clinical finisher.
Cummins has been tried before at Test level, 12 matches bringing a total of five tries. Nobody could say he has let his country down in any of those matches and he was among the better performers on the 2013 spring tour. But at the same time, nagging doubts remain.
Cummins is 26, unlikely to be getting any better or faster, and certainly not a strapping 21-year-old flyer with potential to burn.
“Workmanlike” is perhaps the word which springs to mind – which isn’t the word I like to associate with a position for which “electric” and “powerhouse” are a better fit.
By any rational account, a direct comparison against Bryan Habana and Julian Savea as international wing men leaves Cummins a very distant third. He has Habana’s opportunist nose, but not his explosive pace, and he lacks the swerve and power in the hips to break tackles like Savea does.
Injuries, lack of form, ineligibility and overseas transfers have combined to thin the ranks of suitable alternatives. Cummins should be knocking on the door for Wallabies selection, and that would be fair enough. But to be an automatic first choice suggests that player depth still isn’t all that it should be.
In 2013 Cummins was awarded the Australian Rugby Union Players Association Medal for Excellence. But is it fair and reasonable to suggest that a deal of this popularity is due more to his hair and snappy one-liners?
Drawing a comparison with Australian politics, figures like Clive Palmer, and Pauline Hanson before him , appeal to sections of society because they represent a finger to the “norm” of authority. They provide fresh copy for the media, with an anti-establishment bent and, as a result, something new and different for people to talk about.
Consequently, when Cummins mischievously talks of “grabbing himself some meat” he instantly connects with sports followers stale from player after player parroting the same “one game at a time” cliches.
I don’t doubt for a second that rugby needs more Nick Cummins types. But as refreshing and entertaining as he is, let’s not, to borrow from Monty Python, confuse him with the Messiah.
In a few short weeks analysis will swing away from Super Rugby to the now decade-long problem of how to wrest the Bledisloe Cup back from New Zealand.
Catchy one-liners about “going fishing up north, or maybe down south”, and images of a headband disappearing into a forest of ringlets will soon give way to cold hard reality.
Bledisloe Cup rugby is no snack, and judging by how Jerome Kaino laid waste to Kurtley Beale and others at Eden Park on Friday night, it seems doubtful that the All Blacks will be distracted by the Cummins circus.
The Honey Badger provides an enjoyable diversion to be sure, but fans should enjoy it for what it is and no more. This is not the stuff from which Test series victories are founded.
Daws
Guest
Good point about the Tahs, Chivas. Shows you that a great team beats a team of greats when the Force beat the Tahs.
Daws
Guest
Agreed, give Longbottom a bench spot over TPN or Kepu and McCalman instead of Palu or Higgers. Both have been absolute machines. Such a shame Matthewson played for the AB's, he is killing it. Let Kyle Godwin train with the squad, he's a great player and a great bloke. Potentially Cotteral should train with them as well, can't hurt our playing stocks.
Mal
Guest
Just one player from the team in third place of the competition?
Warwick Todd
Guest
I have no problem with Cummins playing for the Wallabies but I fear he's not far away from an interview faux pas a la Jimmy Maher.
James
Guest
I agree and a in a similar way a certain Nathan Grey who held the Wallabies midfield together when it was pretty fragile..... I think we should be thankful we have Nick Cummins rather than bemoaning the fact he is not the fastest winger around. Cummin's hit on Skelton not far out from the line during the game against the Waratahs was a try stopper. Its ridiculous and insulting to suggest his off field comments and hair do get him selected, its his rugby that get him selected.
ozinsa
Guest
AAC isn't picked only when he decides to call it quits. He has been the single consistent backline player for the past five years in any position asked of him. He has very small fluctuations in form, goes hard at the ball and tackle and gives opponents nothing. Please give us another six with the same hunger and quality. I don't mind if he is on the wing to accommodate a form 13 but he's got to be there somewhere.
Magic Sponge
Guest
AAC and Cummins are certainties for the wallabies. This x factor is overrated if you cannot kerb errors. Joc has the x factor without the errors, whereas KB and qc you don't have enough fingers and toes to keep track of their errors.
Gary Russell-Sharam
Guest
Cumminns reminds me of Bob Egerton in the early Nineties. Lots of heart etc and a real battler. I can stand to have him in the Wallabies as apposed to other speedsters (which we sadly lack at the moment). For the life of me I cant see any really quality wingers in Australia at this present time. Cummins is better than the rest as he has that quality that sets him apart from the others in that he really goes at it hard and leaves nothing in the tank
conor
Guest
Chan Wee I didn't know the NZ Commonwealth Games side of 2010 were the All Blacks. I know they are now called the AIG All Blacks Sevens team for marketing terms but it wasn't the case in New Delhi. Ben Smith was also nominated as International rookie of the year in the last two years so he has, just as you point out in your figures, become a regular All Black starter since 2012 - ie at 26, the same age as Nick Cummins is now. It's to be hoped he's not forced into playing centre for the ABs as he looked completely out of place there. I also remember he was part of the Highlanders team (co-captain and full-back) that couldn't put away a 13 man Force side earlier this year in Dunedin that included the much maligned Nick Cummins. For Allanthus's benefit the RUPA award for excellence refers as much as to the work he does off the field in terms of charity fund-raising as what he does on it.
Daz
Guest
While Australia selects players on politics and past form the darkness and the saffas can sleep easy. When we start to select players on heart and character, that will keep them up nights.
Daz
Guest
Two quotes from articles just recently. The first article quotes one of the best Wallaby five eights to ever play the game and who would have been an equal sensation in league. Larkham's skills were sublime. Many commentators talked about how he could "ghost" through opposition defences. He made it look so easy, like he was just strolling. Hardly trying. And he had one of the best passes I've ever seen. Maybe the best. Invariably fast and considerately in front of his team mate multiplying vision and opportunity for the receiver. On top of that he had heart and quiet courage in spades. Put on his arse many times by late, illegal tackles he just kept getting up again and again. "Richie McCaw's influence is so great even his presence on the training track can turn the Canterbury Crusaders' season around. ACT Brumbies head coach Stephen Larkham is expecting the All Black great to return from a broken thumb for the Crusaders' clash with the Brumbies at Christchurch Stadium on Saturday. The Crusaders started the Super Rugby season slowly but have won their past three games and Larkham said McCaw had played a role in the resurgence even though he had not played. That influence would be magnified when McCaw returns to the field. While Larkham said McCaw wasn't the fastest, biggest or most flashy player, he made up for it with his super toughness." Another perceptive article dealing with rugby's cultural cringe: "Since news broke last week Benji Marshall was returning to the NRL, a host of pundits have come out to give their two cents, and it’s as if Benji’s failure is a win for rugby, proving the game’s not as easy as it looks. While rugby league is definitely Big Brother in Australia, rugby needs to shake off its inferiority complex and appreciate the impact rugby league has had within rugby, rather than celebrating a convert’s failure." My point? My point is that as well as flashy players, you need heart and soul and unerring commitment to play and win this game.
Stray Gator
Guest
Ah!! Thank you for the clarification, Sensei. Makes good sense now. Hai! :)
RobC
Roar Guru
Its the base story for many US films produced for decades after: magnificent seven, guns navarone, ocean 11, dirty dozen. Among other things, its a film that set the standard in portraying group dynamics. I like to use this movie to highlight the difference between a specialist, and a specialist who is very useful: - One ronin (Kyuzo) did not originally not fit into the gang. He focused on honing one skill: sword fighting, instead of the goal: killing enemies. In the end, he did join, and was killed by gunfire. - "Inferior ronin" in the gang survived because they were adaptable. They did whatever was needed to win. Im not saying Cummins is inferior. But he does whatever needs to be done, to get a win - given the opportunity.
DubbleBubble
Guest
wot
Harry Jones
Expert
I like to watch Cummins play rugby. But I agree he has some obvious limitations, first and foremost, he plays a position where speed is crucial, and he doesn't have world class rugby speed. Still, seems a bit harsh, given that he has big heart and will run through a wall
dan
Guest
Ummm... ok
Bakkies
Guest
As long as Cummins is as busy as a 'one armed brick layer in Baghdad' at test level I am more then satisfied.
DC-NZ
Guest
I think Savea is getting there...but he needs to keep improving, and he will. In the recent era, I would say Sivavatu and Rockocko were brilliant. I rate Cummins - his third try of his hat-trick was quite skilful.
Chan Wee
Guest
@ conor : " Ben Smith did not become a regular All Black until he was 28 years old ..." Are we talking of the same Ben Smith (born 01.06.1986) who became MIB no 1100 on 14 November 2009 at the San Siro, Milan against Italy? Ben Smith, member of NZ rugby sevens squad which competed at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, India, which won the gold medal? Ben Smith , who has played 26 tests for MIB (17 starts) ? but maybe ur right, he played 10 tests in 2012 and 14 in 2013 .....
Redbull
Guest
"Sweating like a gypsy with a mortgage". Still laughing at that one!