Warriors boss confident that Price’s fitness will be spot on

Glasgow Warriors coach Dave Rennie is confident his international scrumhalfalipricehasaddressed his fitness issues and will bereadytoplayarolewhen the Guinness Pro14 season gets under way.

Rennie had revealed that he considered Price to be “overweight, a bit heavy and sluggish” when he returned from Scotland Six Nations duty at the back end of last season.

Price, whose star had soared to the point where he became Gregor Townsend’s first-choice Test scrum-half after a stellar 2017, saw Greig Laidlaw reclaim the No 9 jersey after he endured difficult afternoon in the Six Nations opener against Wales.

George Horne then emerged as No 1 scrumhalf at Scotstoun but Rennie believes Price has learned a valuable lesson.

“It’s not uncommon for players who aren’t getting the same kind of game time,” said the Kiwi coach at the Guinness Pro14 launch in Glasgow yesterday. “During those [international] windows they don’t train quite as much as they might in a normal competition. It’s not uncommon for someone to slip through the cracks.

“He’s had a groin injury but he has worked really hard. He realises that he probably let himself down and suffered the consequences.

“He’s desperate to get back and play footy. I’ve been really impressed with him. He might be a couple of weeks away yet but when he comes back he will be in good nick and really sharp.”