Return of the Rebel

Thu, Oct 22, 2020, 9:43 PM
Rebels Media
by Rebels Media

The Melbourne Rebels are excited to announce another big signing for the upcoming 2021 Super Rugby season, welcoming experienced lock, Steve Cummins, back to the Stockade.

Cummins is no stranger to Rebels supporters, having played 20 Super Rugby matches over three seasons with Melbourne, from 2015 – 2017.

Melbourne Rebels Head Coach Dave Wessels said: “We were really disappointed that Steve left at the end of 2017, but he left with a reputation as a good club man. Everyone who knows him from his previous time at the Club speaks really highly of him and we’re delighted to have him back.”

Originally joining the Rebels as an Extended Playing Squad member in 2015, Cummins made two appearances during his first season with the club, making his Super Rugby debut in Round 5 against the Western Force in Perth.

Season 2017 would prove to be Cummins’ most prominent year with the Rebels, with the popular lock starting fifteen games, playing over 1000 minutes, and scoring a try against the Jaguares in Round 17.

Cummins boasts an impressive junior background, having captained the Australian Schoolboys in 2010 and represented the Australian Under-20s at the Junior World Rugby Championships in South Africa in 2012 – a side featuring former Rebels’ Sean McMahon, Sam Jeffries, and current squad member, Lewis Holland.

He returns to Australian shores after spending the past four seasons playing abroad, primarily for Pro14 club, the Scarlets, based in Llanelli, Wales.

Over three seasons, Cummins made 46 appearances for the Welsh side, playing a key role in the club’s Pro14 Grand Final appearance against Leinster in 2018.  

Following his three-year stint in West Wales, Cummins headed South, joining French Top 14 club, Pau, in preparation for his return to Australian Rugby at the end of this year.

The twenty-eight-year-old says he’s excited to begin a new chapter with the Rebels – the club where he first began his professional playing career six years ago.

“I’m really looking forward to returning to Melbourne and re-joining the Rebels program,” said Cummins.

“It’s an exciting time to be joining the club - It’s a very different side to the one that I was previously a part of - there’s a good mix of exciting youth, as well as some guys who have been around for a long time.

“It’s a great opportunity to join a high-quality team and program, while being closer to my family and living in an amazing city.”

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