SCOTLAND’S ALI PRICE admits his first few days with the British and Lions squad have been a little ‘daunting’ as Warren Gatland’s players continue their preparations in Jersey ahead of Saturday week’s opening game against Japan in Murrayfield.
Price, 28, is part of a Lions tour for the first time following a strong season with Glasgow Warriors and Scotland, and is determined to make the most of his inclusion.
“It’s quite a strange situation to come into a squad for the first time,” he said. “There’s a lot of big personalities and players that you’ve watched play or played against at international level. It’s a brilliant opportunity and we’re all here to compete for a place in the Test side come the end of the tour.
“We’re going there (South Africa) to win the series. It’s a bit daunting, but at the same time it’s an opportunity you don’t want to just let pass you by and coast through. You want to put your best foot forward and put yourself out there.
“But look, no one is here to make up the numbers, are they? I’d be lying if I said I was just happy to be here.
“Obviously, everyone is happy to be here, but we want to be involved as much as we can and like I said, those three games at the end of the tour are what we are all gunning for, and when the games start coming and squads start getting selected… Everyone here is competitive and it’s about taking your opportunities when you get them in the games.”
Monday morning saw the Lions enjoy a gentle introduction to their 10-day training camp, following by a more demanding afternoon out on the training pitch. Tuesday was another busy day both on the pitch and in the gy,, including some work on exercise bikes while wearing altitude training masks.
“It very quickly has ramped up already,” Price explained.
“I think boys are in a good place. You know, guys are coming in off the back or a week or two of training or a game a couple of weeks ago, so everyone is fresh and ready to go. I think we all know we’ve got to put in the hard yards now, and when we play Japan and get to South Africa hopefully we are in a good place.”
With the tour coming on the end of a long season, fitness levels won’t be an issue for Gatland’s Lions, so for now much of the early training work is focused on getting to grips with different combinations and new lineout calls, as players from four different national teams look to quickly knit together as a unit.
“I think it’s trying to find the balance. We know we need to put in a fair bit of hard work, but at the same time there is a lot of combinations, a lot of guys that haven’t played together, so you still need to get in a decent amount of shape-work and getting the team gelling.”
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