Price ready for more European adventures

• 11 Apr 2022

There’s nothing quite like knockout rugby.

For supporters, the anticipation of a winner-takes-all fixture mingles with dreams of going all the way, with everything that much more tangible as the path to the final crystallises in front of them.

Charging towards the weekend ?

?️ Tickets for our @ChallengeCup_ last-16 tie with @FalconsRugby are on sale now – click here to buy your ticket! https://t.co/mAisbyw5vL#WhateverItTakes ⚔️?️ pic.twitter.com/ISBaEhIp65
— Glasgow Warriors (@GlasgowWarriors) April 11, 2022

For Ali Price and his Glasgow Warriors team-mates, though, the focus is squarely on the task at hand – namely, a Friday night trip to Kingston Park to take on Newcastle Falcons in the last-16 of the EPCR Challenge Cup.

“It’s a knockout match. There’s no second chance, there’s no opportunity to even the score in the return fixture – if we don’t get it right on the day, then that’s it,” the British and Irish Lions scrum-half told glasgowwarriors.org.

“Away games in Europe always tend to have a unique atmosphere, and they can be quite hostile environments to go into as an away player because you know the home supporters will be getting right behind their team.

“For us, it’s about going down there, doing a job and keeping ourselves in the hunt.”

Having edged past Zebre Parma thanks to a late try from Cameron Nordli-Kelemeti on Saturday evening, the Warriors will be all too aware of the talent at the disposal of their hosts on Friday night.

With the Falcons four-time semi-finalists in the Challenge Cup to boot, the scrum-half knows that the home side will be out to defend a proud heritage in the competition in front of the passionate Kingston Park faithful.

“Any team at home is going to want to put in a decent performance,” said Price.

“Whilst if you look at the Premiership table you’ll see Newcastle towards the bottom, their recent performances have shown what they’re all about.

“The Challenge Cup is a different front to the league, too – with any competition, when you get into the knockout stages it becomes a different mindset. Everything feels that bit closer as you head into the business end of the competition, because you’re only a handful of games away from lifting a trophy.

“That’s what every team wants, and we’re no different. We want to build momentum, and that starts on Friday.”

The relative proximity of Newcastle also offers another bonus for Price and company, with the Warrior Nation set to make themselves known under the Friday night lights at Kingston Park on Friday night.

It’s a prospect that brings a grin to the scrum-half’s face, as he prepares for the next European adventure in Glasgow colours.

“It’s going to be brilliant,” said Price.

“Now that things have started to open up, the fans have been showing up in numbers at away games and that means so much.

“Down at Cardiff there were a lot of Glasgow supporters getting behind the boys, and that was great to see.

“You can’t get too many closer away trips than Newcastle, so hopefully we can give the Warrior Nation travelling down something to cheer about.”