Cusiter: Team learning to adapt
Chris Cusiter has revealed how it took a while for his Scotland team-mates to process Andy Robinson's new dual-captaincy model.
Monday saw Head Coach Robinson announce scrum-half rivals Cusiter and Mike Blair would share the armband for the autumn internationals.
Speaking publicly for the first time about the unusual concept, Glasgow star Cusiter, 27, explained how his team-mates reacted to the news.
"For the first wee while, nobody said anything and it just kind of went under the radar," he said.
"But, slowly I suppose, people have come up and said things."
Edinburgh star Blair had been in sole possession of the armband for the last year and a half, while Cusiter is a captaincy rookie at Test level.
"For me, the whole thing's a new experience," Cusiter said.
"If and when I was picked to start a game, that would be a big thing for me personally.
"I think people have bought into it, as we have, and that's obviously hugely important moving forward."
Cusiter revealed the model worked well during this week's three-day training camp at St Andrews.
And he believes it will pay dividends when substitutions are made during this month's Tests, which kick-off with next Saturday's clash against Fiji.
"Both of us know the tactics and the game plan like the back of our hands," said Cusiter, who captained Scotland A during this summer's tour to Romania.
"We've been in involved in all the decision-making processes so bringing one guy on hopefully shouldn't affect the tactical side of the game but, at the same time, it's bringing on a fresh set of legs."
Cusiter and Blair, 28, have been vying for the scrum-half jersey for several years, with the latter's appointment as captain seeing his rival playing second fiddle of late.
"To be on the bench over the last couple of years was tough but knowing I was behind a player like Mike made it sometimes a little bit easier to take," Cusiter told BBC Scotland.
"Obviously, we both want to be playing, so that's where the competition comes in.
"But, with this system, I think that we'll both have opportunities and we'll both be supporting the other one, so I think we can make a positive situation out of this."
Blair added: "There's a mutual respect, I think; we've both been on the Scotland scene for almost six, seven years now.
"We're both capable in what we can do as players and I'm a real fan of the way Chris plays.
"I think he leads by example and that's something that's going to be really important going into these autumn internationals."
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