Ali Price has vowed to bounce again strongly from the “frustration” of dropping his standing as a primary alternative for Scotland.
The 29-year-old scrum-half was a mainstay of Gregor Townsend’s crew till being dropped from the 23-man squad for the opening two Six Nations matches in opposition to England and Wales final month.
After a constructive response to what was a hammer blow for Price – with London Irish’s Ben White seizing the quantity 9 jersey all through the championship – the Glasgow man was restored to the replacements’ bench for the closing three matches in opposition to France, Ireland and Italy.
“I’m not going to give up, put it that way,” he stated, when requested about dropping his place. “We all wish to be beginning, all of us wish to have a huge impact inside this crew.
“It’s been irritating however I feel personally, I’ve been happy with how I’ve reacted and handled it. It’s by no means simple however all I can do is figure onerous.
“I’d wish to assume my response to it has been constructive. I’m doing all I can. But on the flip facet, Ben has are available in and had a superb event. He’s performed extremely properly and that’s credit score to him.
“If you’ve bought depth and competitors like that, it may well solely be good.
“We’re all well aware that if you don’t perform you’ll be out the side because there are other guys playing well and pushing to play.
“It’s frustrating but I believe I’ve responded positively and I’ll take my opportunity if it comes again.”
Price has additionally misplaced his standing as first-choice scrum-half at Glasgow this season to George Horne, who was additionally concerned within the Scotland squad for the Six Nations.
Having received his fiftieth cap a 12 months in the past, Price was rocked when he discovered he was not within the squad for Twickenham.
“It was incredibly disappointing not to be involved in the England game for the first time probably since I broke into the team,” he stated.
“It hurt. But at the same time my performances probably hadn’t been where I’d want them to be and I hadn’t played as many minutes as I’d have wanted.
“I wasn’t showing a true reflection of myself. Gregor spoke to me during the week building up to England and said he just wanted me to enjoy playing and get back to the best version of myself because when I’m that, I know I can compete for a starting spot.
“Personally I’m very happy with how I’ve responded to that because I could have been like ‘I disagree, this is terrible’ and all the rest of it, but you’ve got to recognise when you’re not at your best and sort yourself out. I’d like to think I’m on the road to that.”
Price is philosophical in regards to the scenario however has resolved to battle his means again to prominence.
“My situation mixed with the fact Ben’s been playing well and the team’s been playing well round him, I can’t be annoyed about it,” he stated.
“I know what I’m capable of and I know where I want to get to. It’s not going to be a straight road where everything’s just going to fall into place for me.
“I’ve had this before in my career where maybe I’ve gone off the boil and things haven’t quite worked out how I’d like. That’s sport, that’s life.
“You’ve never cracked rugby. It will always bring you back down to earth and it’s about how you respond. I’m happy with where I’m at and how I responded to the disappointment in the rest of the tournament.”