Why 'one of Europe's best' chose Glasgow Warriors stay after exploring other options

The 29-year-old has put pen to paper on a new long-term contract with his boyhood club where he has racked up 148 appearances since making his professional debut in the opening match of the 2015/16 season.

As "one of the top second-rowers in Europe" - according to Warriors head coach Franco Smith - it was only to be expected that Cummings would receive tempting offers from elsewhere.

However, the decision to remain at Scotstoun proved to be an easy one in the end with the remarkable weekend win over Toulouse in the Champions Cup highlighting the potential within the squad.

"With what we have got going with Glasgow, it would be hard to leave at a time like now where the squad is building really nicely," Cummings explained. "There are a lot of other senior players signing on and we are definitely building a good core of players that are building towards something. We've been getting some good wins, pushing as a squad to compete in Europe and in the URC, to try to win that again. So in some ways it was quite an easy decision.

"You would be foolish not to look around, just out of interest. I have been here for 11 years and I'm incredibly happy here and love playing for Glasgow. But you would be foolish not to see what else is out there and what interest there is.

"But at the end of the day, Glasgow came in with an offer I was really happy with. With everything we are building at the moment, I didn't want to leave. We are in such a good place at the moment, it wouldn’t be a time for me to leave."

Cummings is approaching a half-century of caps for Scotland and his form for both club and country earned him selection for the British & Irish Lions this summer. He made five appearances across the tour of Australia although admits he was left "gutted" at missing out on a Test jersey.

"We won the series so you can't actually argue with who he’s picked in the end," Cummings said of coach Andy Farrell's selection. "Obviously playing in a Test was an ambition of mine but I don't want that to dampen what was still an amazing experience. There wasn’t a fairytale ending to it for me, but I still had an amazing time."

Cummings is on course to make his 150th Warriors appearance during the second leg of the 1872 Cup against Edinburgh at Murrayfield after Christmas. The first leg takes place at Hampden Park on Saturday and he is looking forward to another big occasion.

"With the majority of our squad involved in Scotland camps, we know the guys well and we know what it means to beat them, but also how much it means to them to beat us. It is a massive occasion, two teams who really want to beat each other and prove why they are the best team in Scotland. We feel it is up to us to imprint our game on them and we believe if we do that, we will be on the right side of things. Obviously being from Glasgow, it means a lot to me but I know it means a lot to everyone in the squad."