Ali Price

I didn't consider for one moment that Magnus Bradbury and Freddie Douglas wouldn't be on this squad.

There was a lot of chat about Hector Patterson playing really well, which he is, but you can look at the competition at nine and you thought it's going to be difficult for him to get by Ben White and Jamie Dobie and George Horne and then you've got Ali Price doing well and in France as well, so I didn't think I was going to see him, but Chris has been in touch saying, really hoping you guys ask Gregor some questions around the Douglas, Bradbury, Ollibly, Lafferty and Paterson omissions could easily be in over Leather Barrel at hard and with Dolby playing on the wing.

And loads of tweets along similar lines saying, do the Edinburgh fans have a bit of a case there some merit to their grievance or is four games at the start of a URC season not enough to propel these guys ahead of Glasgow counterparts that have been playing well for a lot longer

I think they do have a case Hector Patterson less so although he was brilliant on Friday night absolutely outstanding but the three lads that you mentioned I think are all ahead of him Hector Patterson's time will come because he looks an electrifying player blight lafferty i thought he might sneak in at the expense of of heard or miller mills but you know those guys are wily campaigners they're in the system so i don't think that's a massive surprise i think the surprise for me is that bradbury and douglas are not there um he's gone with uh leather barrow it's a bit of a wild card You know, it's a kind of, it's a one where he just wants to have a look at this guy to see if he's better than Bradbury.

But I think looking at the squad...

Tom, overall after what we thought were really surprising omissions of Bradbury and Freddie Douglas, it's an exciting squad, it's a settled squad and it's a sign of a squad that's really strong in depth when you consider some of the guys that haven't made it.

Bradbury, Douglas, Ali Price we said going well in France, Adam Hastings seems to have started his career in France very well.

Grant Gilchrist a Real Townsend favourite there's no room for him Aaron Reid playing pretty well down in the Prem Cam Redpath a guy who has played well for Scotland he's been unlucky with injuries but very highly rated down at Bath there's a lot of good players on the outside looking in which is where Scotland want to be

Because for me, if you look at these papers, and especially because French teams haven't historically travelled well, I think part of it's got to come down to coach now with their set-up.

They've got Ali Price at nine, Adam Hastings ten.

Picardo at 12, Lennox and Yanwu at 13, Stuart Hogg 15, and then Donovan, Taofi Fanoa, and Dimitri Delebes.

I don't know the two wingers.

But, you know, you look at that and you compare that to, obviously, Finn Russell and Ben Spencer and Maxer, Joe Morley, Lawrence, Joe Cock and Osiga, Santi Carreras.

Okay, Charlie Griffin.

you can't at home you know you've got Scotland starting 10 Adam Hastings was a backup Ali Price was obviously being out of the squad you've got Ben Spencer who's better you go through the team and go that's not on paper those players are certainly there but you see like the amount of points being conceded and the way the parameters have been played maybe it is a factor maybe at the moment the emphasis of the game and the way that it's so loose is just Meaning that some teams are going to be able to come over and just, if they play tighter rugby and are just better drilled, it's going to work for them.

Yeah.

Adam Hastings doesn't.

You've got Ali Price at nine.

So that relationship between them two.

But he played without comparing him to Finn.

He's just finding his way and that's fine.

The other young guy I wondered about, I was going to have him in that squad I picked and then I kind of changed my mind because I put Ali Price in because he's played pretty well in Montpellier and was kind of part of the...

A great win for Montpellier at Bath.

But I was thinking Hector Patterson is one of the scrum halves.

Yeah.

And Ali Price is the electric shock hairdo.

It's like...

Yes, Ali Price, a.k.a. Gareth Davies' bitch.

Right.

Oh, meow! Meow! On the subject of Stade Francais, I've got my pink October display up.

I can remember watching, uh, that live on the millennium against Scotland I can't remember what year it was, but we are going back a few and, you know-

He's had two or three off Ali Price over the years

Yeah.

We were, we were behind the posts so, you know, facing on and you just see him sprinting and he is gone.

And then I think there are guys, and I mentioned George Turner.

Yeah, Ali Price is going to a World Cup before Hector Patterson.

Unless Hector goes to a Prem team and wins a Premiership for Bath alongside Finn Russell.

Yeah,

Yeah, I think that's fair.

And if

you add Ali Price, then maybe he's the fifth.

The bit I wonder about...