TO 3G or not to 3G. That is the question that is occupying a lot of minds in and around the Glasgow Warriors camp at the moment, but one thing is certain – if the sodden grass pitch at Scotstoun is dug up over the summer and replaced with an artificial one, it will not have come quickly enough for the players.
So says Ali Price. Fresh from celebrating an extension to his contract, he made it clear how much he has enjoyed playing on the synthetic surface at Kilmarnock and other grounds around the United Kingdom, how he feels it helps Glasgow's style of game and how it enhances the spectacle for those in the stand.
This weekend Glasgow will return to plastic when they face Munster at Rugby Park on Friday night. It is the second time in the last month, they have had to move a home game there after the rain left the ground at Scotstoun saturated with water while more than a dozen big puddles scattered over the pitch made it obvious just how dangerous it would be to try to play on it.
"I think Kilmarnock is a brilliant pitch," enthused Price. "I have played on Allianz Park [the Saracens ground in north London] and been down to Cardiff [who also use an artificial pitch]. It is softer than you think it is. I don't have a problem with it, you get a few grazes if it is dry from the rubber crumb or whatever but I don't see a problem.
"When it is wet, it helps you slide on the surface but it also dries really quickly. [Against Racing 92 in January] it was raining quite heavily in the first half but the second half it stopped and the pitch was dry and ball was dry. That helps the game and helps the people watching it because it means it is a more enjoyable game."
Part of the enthusiasm may be that Glasgow's experiment with artificial surfaces has coincided with his own breakthrough to the big time. After signing his first full-time deal only a couple of months ago after graduating from the Academy system, he has had a run of games and feels he has made a strong case for himself with his two-year extension the reward for his efforts.
"I've enjoyed getting the game time and being out on the pitch and showing what I can do," Price said. "I knew it was going to be hard, my goal was to push the people in front of me and take the opportunity when I got given it. Henry [Pyrgos] and Mike [Blair] have suffered injuries for a little while as well, but regardless of that, I want to improve and push Gregor [Townsend, the head coach] to have to make that decision to have to pick me.
"It has gone really well. The last month, I could not have asked for more. The results have not been coming, maybe, but I feel like I have been playing quite well and deserve to have been playing in these games.
"Ultimately, I want to play international rugby, that would be my goal. I'd love to represent Scotland. I know I am a long way off that at moment. I'm new to professional rugby and need to get a run of games to show I can make it at this level. That is the ultimate goal – to push the guys at Glasgow to have that number nine shirt. That will be my goal for the next two years."
For all that, Price knows that If he can push his way past the more established names in the Glasgow squad, then Vern Cotter and the national selectors have already proved that they are willing to gamble on youth. Once Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, who was the same Under 20s squad, made the breakthrough to the Edinburgh side it took only a few months to win his first cap and Price is determined to make the same breakthrough.
"If I am in good form and playing well and the coaches at Scotland feel like I deserve an opportunity, they are the ones in control, they can push me there quickly. It is out of my hands, I have to keep playing well when I get my chance for Glasgow and see where that takes me," he said.
If he does push on, then paying on a new artificial surface at Scotstoun would only improve his game even further, he feels. The power of plastic could bring exactly the breakthrough he craves.
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