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Meet the new Matt Giteau
Daniel Lane
Sunday, May 27, 2007
He's played just one full season of colts, a sprinkling of first-grade games and a few matches for the Australian sevens team but that's been more than enough to make Nick Cummins rugby's hottest property.
While Kurtley Beale, Quade Cooper, Lachlan Turner and David Pocock are at the vanguard of the Australian Rugby Union's "generation next", Cummins is being pursued by three Super 14 franchises and big-spending NRL club the Sydney Roosters.
He's 98 kilograms of talent and power. Australia's sevens coach Glen Ella added weight to Cummins's appeal when he compared him with Wallabies superstar Matt Giteau.
Former Waratahs utility back Duncan McRae, a member of Randwick's coaching staff, said Cummins is only two seasons away from a senior representative jumper - provided he continued to work hard and to learn.
The only flaw, it seems, is he's still coming to grips with the intricacies of senior rugby. Indeed, that was part of Ella's rationale to pitchfork him into the national sevens team.
"Nick is as good a prospect as I've had in the sevens since Matt Giteau," Ella said. "He has enormous natural ability. He is strong and he's a vicious defender.
"Last year I was told to look at a kid in the Randwick Colts. When I saw him, Nick was picked for the Australian sevens team.
"He just needs a greater understanding of the game to reach his potential and sevens will help him in terms of one-on-one defence, beating the man and running lines.
"It will definitely help to develop Nick's breakdown skills."
Although three Australian Super 14 franchises are vying for his signature, Cummins admitted there was a long, hard road ahead of him.
"It's been hard but plenty of people are helping me out and I appreciate it," he said.
"After I arrived here I needed to learn plenty about backing up in attack, improving my one-on-one defence and developing a greater level of fitness. I've never done weights before.
"It's great to hear people say I could make a name for myself but I know it is up to me to go as far as I can because no one else can do it for me."
Cummins joined Randwick at the beginning of 2006 via Bundaberg after a Galloping Greens talent scout cornered him in a pub after a game for the Buccaneers.
"I spoke to a bloke from Randwick and he suggested I give Sydney a go," he said.
"I saw Randwick play Eastwood when I was in Sydney on a schoolboy trip once so I was aware that it was a big deal."
Cummins is still as green as Randwick's famous myrtle jumper, but he's been given a glimpse into the lifestyle that awaits him if he can make the grade.
He has been to South Africa, Dubai, New Zealand, the United States, Hong Kong and Adelaide with the national sevens team.
"I'd never been overseas before but the sevens has allowed me to see some great places and to sample the local culture," he said. "What's really amazed me is how we are asked to sign autographs because the locals see us in an Australian rugby shirt. If only they knew, eh?"
Perhaps. But if Cummins can live up to expectations, his signature could one day be worth something. And that might happen sooner rather than later.
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Was the wait worth it - Ya betta baby 
