Chris Cusiter: Former Scotland captain on life in LA, Scottish Lions & being robbed

Chris Cusiter describes the scene in his whisky shop as a thief made off with almost £10,000 worth of alcohol.

One of his workers was out on a delivery. Another was in the back packing boxes. A third had called in sick.

Cusiter was on a long phone call as the man intently perused the finest single malts, cognacs and tequilas on offer. At least, that's what it looked like.

"I just didn't see it coming," the former British and Irish Lions and Scotland scrum-half tells BBC Scotland.

"I thought 'ach he's just taking his time', when actually he was robbing me. The insurance company wouldn't pay out because they said we were negligent. So that was a tough lesson.

"But the guy who owned the store before - it was a family business that I bought - he'd had a gun pulled on him twice. So you put things in perspective."

That is just one of Cusiter's many learnings since his emigration to Los Angeles following his retirement from rugby five years ago.

The Aberdonian has left behind what he describes as an "easy" life, relatively speaking, for an altogether different challenge. Taking over a business in a new country, leaving behind the comforts of home, and the family and friends that make it.

"I'd invested my money and moved over, and I realised how little I knew very quickly," Cusiter explains. "That challenge was appealing, but also daunting. Having zero experience or knowledge, kind of feeling like a bit like an 18 or 21 year-old out of university and going 'right, let's figure this out.'"

Being a professional rugby player has had its difficulties too. The brutal pre-season training blocks, the lows of defeat, the drain of injuries.

But the burden of responsibility was never Cusiter's alone. There were team-mates, coaches, executives to share the blame when things went wrong on the pitch. Suddenly, it was all on him. And there was little from his rugby career that prepared him for that.

"I think I'd been lucky, I don't know if lucky is the right word, but I'd led quite an easy life I think would be the way to put it. Going from university into professional rugby, having a decent career, which definitely had setbacks but it definitely took a trajectory that I was happy with.

"Then to this, which was completely unknown. I didn't know if I would be able to pay the bills, pay myself anything, that was a whole different experience. It's been really intense. Overall it's been the hardest thing I've ever done."

While the experience of LA has been stressful, the lifestyle for Cusiter, his wife Sarah, and two daughters is one of golden sunshine and an ability to explore the great outdoors of California.

Traffic and frustrated attempts to keep his girls from developing American accents aside, life is good, with the whisky retail business now sold and a new challenge looming.

So what about rugby? The 38-year-old amassed 70 Scotland caps, toured New Zealand with the Lions in 2005, and won the French Top 14 title with Perpignan in 2009. Not a bad haul.

Despite all that knowledge and experience, he feels his time in the professional game is up, rejecting common assumptions that every professional has to have to be obsessed with their sport.

"I think you have to really love it and want to coach," Cusiter explains. "I know how passionate Gregor Townsend is and how dedicated he is. I see it with [friend] Mike Blair, he's working his way up. They're the perfect candidates for that sort of thing.

"I like watching it but I don't have a desire to get involved in coaching I'm more of a fan."

Along with family and Scottish friends, Cusiter would get up early to watch Scotland in the Six Nations. He was left impressed by the wins at Twickenham and the Stade de France, and equally frustrated by the narrow misses against Wales and Ireland.

Those performances have propelled eight Scots on to the Lions' tour of South Africa this summer. Cusiter was one of only 10 Scots to be chosen in an initial Lions squad between 2001 and 2017, when Clive Woodward selected him as one of four scrum-halves.

The lack of heroes to roar on has weakened the connection between Scottish rugby fans and the red jersey. And Cusiter has felt it too, despite his immense pride at representing the team 16 years ago.

"I felt that disillusionment with the Lions," he concedes. "I think it makes you reflect on Scottish players and makes you think 'maybe we're just not as good' and brings out those emotions.

"It's those 50/50s where I felt we never got the benefit of the doubt. But we weren't winning so I wouldn't blame the coaches for that.

"I grew up with the 1997 Lions and the Scottish guys - Rob Wainwright, Doddie Weir, Gregor Townsend. That was inspiring stuff. You want Scottish people to be there and in the Test team and I'm hoping that happens this year.

"I think we've got every chance of having three or four starters in the Test team, which would be phenomenal. Equally we could have one guy, so fingers crossed."