Rugby life has changed significantly for Henry Pyrgos since, along with Jonny Gray, Josh Strauss and Richie Vernon, he was one of just four men to play all 80 minutes of Glasgow Warriors’ semi-final and final when they won the Pro12 title in 2015.
Very much their first-choice scrum-half back then, the international scrum-half who has captained his country since then is still only 28, yet for all that he has been available throughout this season, he has started just four of Glasgow’s matches. His try, then, after coming on as a replacement for Ali Price with the game lost to the Scarlets in Llanelli last weekend, was perhaps timely as the former champions home in on this season’s play-offs.
Whether it is enough to earn him more game time remains to be seen, but working under his third regime since joining the club eight years ago, Pyrgos continues to exude the sort of team spirit that has helped hold the squad together during that period.
“At the start of the season any player wants to play as much as they can and I did not get as many starts as I would have liked but that is life, I am working hard, the coaching environment has been brilliant, they are really challenging us,” he said. “It is an exciting time when new coaches come in with slightly different thinking here and there, which has been good, new challenges as a player. The last couple of weeks have been good. I have had a start and a chance to come off the bench. Ultimately when you get on the pitch you just want to do your best for the team. If I am involved this weekend, hopefully there is a good chance we can get the ‘W’ at home and put ourselves in a good position.
“We have a lot of competition at scrum half with Ali [Price] and George [Horne] who have been playing really well as well. It is good thing for the club and a good thing for the country. It is an exciting group to be part of, two really good players and I back myself as well. You learn every day trying to get better.”
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