Ali Price will have point to prove to Glasgow Warriors and SRU, says John Barclay

John Barclay, the former Scotland captain, believes Ali Price will have a point to prove to Glasgow Warriors and the SRU when he makes his return to Scotstoun in Edinburgh colours on Friday evening.

John Barclay is part of the Viaplay team for live coverage of the Glasgow-Edinburgh 1872 Cup derbies.

Price spent nine years at Glasgow where he established himself as first-choice scrum-half, won 66 caps for Scotland and was selected for the British & Irish Lions. He fell out of favour last season under new Warriors coach Franco Smith, with George Horne starting more games at nine.

Price left Glasgow to join Edinburgh on loan last month, a move that came about following an approach by the Scotland national team who were keen to see him play more regularly. Barclay believes the duel between Horne and Price will be an intriguing subplot in Friday’s inter-city derby.

“Ali was kind of asked to, you know, move along the M8 and play for Edinburgh after nine years at Glasgow so he will want to show that Glasgow, or the SRU, should not have moved him along to Edinburgh,” said Barclay, who also played for both clubs. “And George is going to want to show that he deserved to be Franco's number one which is ultimately why Ali was moved on.”

The lack of regular game-time saw Price lose his place in the Scotland team at the start of the Six Nations, with Gregor Townsend picking Ben White as his first-choice scrum-half and Horne as replacement. All three were selected for the Rugby World Cup and Price ended the tournament back as first-choice, with the loan move being announced shortly after.

“I have mixed feelings on it,” added Barclay. “On the one hand, there are only two pro teams in Scotland so you need two guys who are going to play in the Six Nations playing regular rugby. But I also look at it from rugby loyalty and rugby family. You play 10 years for a club and you’re asked to move down the M8. That doesn’t sit amazingly with me.”

Barclay, who will provide analysis for Viaplay at Scotstoun, is unsure what sort of reception Price will get in the first of the back-to-back festive derbies.

“It’ll be unusual, definitely. It’s so soon, he’s been at Edinburgh for six or seven weeks, so it’ll be really weird. He probably thought he’d end his career at Glasgow, start and finish it there. I think his form dipped last year and George Horne jumped ahead of him for Glasgow and Scotland but he found his form again at the World Cup and he’s back on top of his game and he’s made a good difference to Edinburgh.

“I don’t know how much abuse he’ll get because he didn’t want to leave. He was forced to leave. Luckily, he plays in a position which is not particularly confrontational and he can stay away from that side of the game but he’ll be as motivated as anyone to make sure Edinburgh win and maybe prove a point that he wasn’t supposed to have been shipped down the M8.”

John Barclay is part of the Viaplay team for live coverage of every BKT United Rugby Championship game throughout the festive rugby season. Tune into Glasgow Warriors v Edinburgh live and exclusive from Scotstoun this Friday from 6.30pm.​ Visit www.viaplay.com for more information.