IT was a classic case of hero to zero in double-quick time as Ali Price went from the player many thought should be first in line for the Scotland scrum half shirt, ahead of even Greig Laidlaw, to a man struggling for his club place. All in less than two months.
The rise of George Horne as a serious international contender did him few favours but, as Dave Rennie, his head coach at Glasgow Warriors admitted, a lot was down to Price's loss of form while on Scotland duty in the Six Nations – though he is backing the player to rediscover the zip that got him to his elevated status in the first place.
"We pick on form and put pressure on guys," said Rennie. "Ali [Price] has really impressed since he came back in but during the Six Nations he came back overweight, heavy.
"His whole game is about his speed to the breakdown and his ability to threaten, but he came back and was sluggish. George [Horne] and Henry [Pyrgos] were then picked ahead of him and Ali has learnt a lot from that."
What went wrong? "He was on the bench a lot. He would have learnt a lot, there was a bit of discipline involved," Rennie suggested.
It is typical of Rennie that he does not try to sweeten the pill for his players when they fail to perform and Price is certainly not the first player to find international selection can have a downside if you are on the fringes and not getting game time. Even so, it was startling how far and fast his stock fell.
He then came home from Scotland's summer tour with a groin problem and though he is getting back to full fitness, is not considered ready for this week's friendly against Harlequins at the pop-up stadium on Perth's North Inch.
Rennie is happy with the number of players who are ready, however. "The boys turned up in good nick and worked hard, there has been a massive focus around micro skills so there has been a lot catch-pass, a lot of tackle, a lot of carry-and-clean, trying to make sure that part of our game is better.
"We spent a few days in Largs, which was a nice change of venue, and we got a lot of hard work into the boys. Then they had a break for a week.
"All the international boys have been in for the last two and a half weeks and I’m really happy that they’ve turned up in good nick. They have prepared well but it is always a bit different when you go out to play live opposition – it will give us a better indication of where we are at by putting us under a bit of pressure."
Among those expect to show they are fit after missing the summer are Jonny Gray, the lock, and Rory Hughes, he back three player, who both start, while Adam Hastings, Alex Dunbar and Ruaridh Jackson are among those waiting on the bench to show they are raring to go.
The summer has been quiet on on the recruitment front, so Rennie is looking to improve the players he already has in his drive to take them to the next level in both the Guinness PRO14 and the Heineken Champions Cup.
"There’s a number of Scottish guys we want to keep in Scotland for the benefit of Scottish footie – we can manage them with a big World Cup year coming up," he explained.
"We’ve got good depth in a number of areas. We felt that we needed a bit more of a physical presence in the loose forwards – hopefully we’ll get a bit more game time out of Adam Ashe [the No8] this year. He started last season pretty well and then was pretty much injured from round eight.
"We’re pretty happy with our depth in most of those positions – there is a lot of competition for places and the attitude has been great.
"Our handling is streets ahead of where it was. We’ve put so much time into it, but also we want to be better with regard to our carry-and-clean to get quicker ball. We made good strides there last year, but against the best sides, we need to be better. We stuttered our way into the play-offs last year and we were pretty disappointing from an intensity point of view."
The big decision for him is going to be who gets first shot at establishing himself as the fly half replacement for Finny Russell, who is now at Racing 92.
Adam Hastings got the Scotland shirt on their summer tour and Rennie is impressed with the youngster though he admits Hastings is still a raw talent: "If I compare him to Finn I think his urgency to get in position is superior, he is a good talker and he has a lot of confidence," Rennie said.
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