Cuister: Bench warming as nerve racking as captaincy; RUGBY UNION.Byline: BEN RUMSBY CHRIS CUSITER Christopher Peter Cusiter (born 13 June 1982) is a Scottish rugby union footballer who plays at scrum-half. He is considered a great prospect for the Scotland national rugby union team and the British and Irish Lions. has no fears about leading out Scotland for the first time this weekend, insisting being on the bench is as nerve-wracking as it gets. The scrum-half will captain his country against Fiji on Saturday at Murrayfield after winning his battle for the armband arm·band n. A band worn around the upper arm, often as identification or as a symbol of mourning or protest. Noun 1. armband - worn around arm as identification or to indicate mourning and a place in the team with joint skipper Mike Blair Michael Robert Leighton Blair (born April 20, 1981 in Edinburgh) is a Scottish rugby union footballer. He plays professional rugby union as scrum-half for Edinburgh Rugby and represents Scotland. Blair has recently signed another two-year contract with the Edinburgh Gunners. . Unlike Blair, who has led Scotland for the past year and a half, Cusiter's experience in the role at Test level is limited to replacing his rival during last season's RBS RBS Royal Bank of Scotland RBS Role Based Security RBS Rollback Segment RBS Rare Book School (University of Virginia) RBS Rural Business Cooperative Service RBS Ribosome Binding Site (genetics) 6 Nations game against Wales. Coming off the bench has been the story of Cusiter's Test career for the past two years, with Blair's stranglehold on the armband guaranteeing his own place in the team. But Andy Robinson's decision to appoint the pair joint captains for the autumn internationals The Autumn internationals are a series of rugby union matches contested each November, usually all within the northern hemisphere, specifically in those nations that contest the Six Nations Championship. has reignited a battle for the number nine jersey which dates back several years. The 27-year-old said: "To be honest, being on the bench is probably more nervewracking than starting a game because you don't know when you're going to be on, you don't know how long you're going to get. "And, ultimately, if you don't get on or you get a very short period of time, it can be very frustrating. "It's not the end of the world being on the bench; it's still an honour to be in the Scotland squad. But all the players want to start the games and I'm no different." That is something Cusiter has not done since the World Cup, with his last 10 appearances all coming as a replacement. So it was perhaps no surprise that he appeared happier to be a starter than a skipper yesterday. Asked if leading out Scotland would be the proudest moment of his career, the Glasgow star said: "Possibly, I hadn't thought of it like that. It's certainly one of the biggest moments of my rugby career to date. "I've been around a few years but captaining Scotland is such a huge honour that it's going to be emotional and I'm pretty excited about it. "I've been around a wee while and I've learnt little bits from different captains that I've had. The best captains that I've played under are the ones that lead by example." CAPTION(S): Chris Cusiter |
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