Scotland scrum-half Ali Price to join Edinburgh from Glasgow in 'national interest'
Scotland scrum-half Ali Price has agreed to join Edinburgh from Glasgow Warriors on a season-long loan in a move orchestrated by the Scottish national team.
The Warriors said that this move was in the “national interest”, and means Scotland’s 70-cap scrum-half can join his new club after his post-World Cup break and when he has recovered from a groin injury. The move will ease the injury toll in the Scottish capital, with fellow scrum-half Scott Steele out until the end of the month with a hip injury.
It will bring to an end a nine-year stay with Glasgow for the 30-year-old after crossing the border and joining from Saracens in 2014. During his time at Scotstoun, he won the Guinness Pro12 title in 2015.
Price is fresh from Scotland’s World Cup campaign, where he started in their crunch final pool stage match against Ireland, scoring a consolation try at the Stade de France in a 36-14 loss.
The 2021 British & Irish Lions said about this move: “I’m looking forward to finding my feet amongst a new group of players and seeing how I can work alongside the Scotland boys I’ve been in camp with before. This is a new challenge that I look forward to seeing where it can lead.”
Price’s new head coach Sean Everitt said: “Ali is a Test Lion and brings to the club a wealth of experience at the very top level of international rugby. We’re delighted to welcome him to Edinburgh and I’m sure he’ll be eager to get started straight away.
“We’re blessed to have a really strong group of nines at the club, who all have unique strengths and abilities. Scott [Steele] unfortunately continues to work his way back from a hip injury that has kept him sidelined since October, which was also a factor in this move.
“Ali is a player with great vision and understanding of the game, and those qualities will only rub off on our scrum-halves.
“His arrival also breeds competition for places, which is only a good thing for us as we compete in both the BKT United Rugby Championship and EPCR Challenge Cup.
“Ali has been one of Glasgow Warriors’ most consistent performers in nearly a decade of rugby at Scotstoun – we appreciate their help in getting this move over the line.
“We’re looking forward to welcoming him to the club where he’ll get the opportunity to compete for a place from the get-go.”