Ali Price, the Glasgow Warriors, Scotland and British & Irish Lions scrum half, has spoken of the anguish he endured in the early days of the first Covid lockdown last year and how the support of his club team-mates helped to get him through one of the darkest periods of his life.
Price, now 28, was living alone in his Glasgow flat when the first restrictions were imposed around 21 months ago.
With no rugby, no training and no social interaction of any sort, he withdrew into himself and even turned to alcohol to help him cope with the pain of isolation.
“I think, initially, I got a bit lost at the start of the first lockdown with not having a schedule and all the uncertainty,” he explained. “Everybody was obviously going through it and at the time I lived on my own and I struggled with not knowing what was going on or when we’d be back doing anything.
“I lost the plot for ten days, two weeks. I was pretty much nocturnal. I ended up staying up all night and sleeping during the day. I don’t know what it was, but I was playing the PlayStation with some of the boys. It is the thing that sticks in my mind because from then on I had a change of mindset.
Advertisement
“I’d had something like four or five beers and it was four in the afternoon. A couple of the lads were like, ‘What are you doing? Why? Sort yourself out’. At that point I thought, ‘You are right, what am I doing?’ So I set my alarm for 9am the next morning to go out for a run and from then I turned into — I don’t know what I turned into — but I got the running bug that is for sure and sorted myself out.”
When restrictions eased he met his girlfriend, Anneka, who subsequently moved in with him.
His running had kept him in shape as well, so when rugby resumed a few months later he was ready to go. And while he was grateful for the wake-up call from his Warriors colleagues, getting himself straightened out largely came from within.
Price said: “I don’t know what it is with me, but when I’ve realised that something is starting to slip or has slipped I have been quite good at self- correcting and getting myself back on the horse, as it were.
“Back around 2018, when my performances were not quite there and things weren’t going so well, I managed to correct myself and get back in shape.
Advertisement
“Thankfully there is something within me so that if I am driven enough to say, ‘Right I’m going to focus on this’, then I can. I didn’t have it as bad as a lot of people had — and still have. I don’t really know how to explain what went through my head or what I put it down to.”
Since his emergence from that darkness, Price has gone from strength to strength. He had been under pressure for his Scotland place from his Glasgow clubmate George Horne, but he has strengthened his position as clear first-choice at scrum half.
And while some thought he was a surprise pick for the Lions squad that went to South Africa this year, he established himself as the best of the bunch and played in all three Tests.
With that status he could have negotiated a lucrative move to any of a number of top sides in England or France, but after playing his 100th game for Glasgow against La Rochelle last weekend, Price confirmed yesterday that he has now extended his contract and will be staying at Scotstoun for the foreseeable future.
“It’s great news that Ali has committed his future to Glasgow Warriors,” said head coach Danny Wilson. “He’s a world-class scrum half who’s hugely passionate about playing for this club.
Advertisement
“Over the last two or three years Ali’s development has been clear to see at both club level and on the international stage.”
Asked why he had chosen not to follow former Glasgow stars like Stuart Hogg, Finn Russell and Jonny Gray to another club, Price said: “For me, everything I’ve managed to achieve in my career has come from being a Glasgow player and living in the city. I came up here as a 20-year-old, so my whole adult career I’ve been at Glasgow.
“I love the place, and while I love a lot of the boys who have moved on, there are also boys here who are some of my best mates still. I don’t always think you necessarily have to go wandering, so I was delighted to carry on up here.”
In the absence of co-captains Fraser Brown and Ryan Wilson, Price led the team in the game against La Rochelle.
As those two players are both now 32, Price would appear to be the next in line to captain the side on a more regular basis. Indeed, coach Wilson made it clear last week that he sees Price taking that role.
Advertisement
On that subject, Price said: “I think as a natural progression within the squad and with my age now and experience, I’m trying to be that leader figure. If captaincy comes with it, then it does.”
The Warriors ran La Rochelle close before losing out 20-13 to the French side. With Exeter Chiefs coming to Scotstoun tomorrow in the second round of Champions Cup matches, Price believes that the intensity of Glasgow’s performance against La Rochelle will have to be repeated, but aspects of their play will need to be tightened up.
“We spoke after the La Rochelle game about the calibre of that team and what they achieved last season [as losing finalists in the Champions Cup],” he said. “But we didn’t win the match and these things come down to one or two incidents and momentum swings.
“That performance is our minimum standard now in terms of effort and physicality and going out there and competing.
“With Exeter it is a very similar challenge. They have a lot of players who come round the corner hard at us, so we need to match that.
Advertisement
“When we have the ball we have to be as accurate as we can and finish off some of our opportunities. The boys are confident going into Saturday.”
