Six Nations: Scotland a 'much tighter group' since World Cup pressure - Ali Price

Price has experienced a painful loss and a dramatic draw at Twickenham

Imagine if you put them together in a room one day, a fellowship of the nines, a meeting of all of Scotland's scrum-halves who've played and lost at Twickenham since the halcyon day of 1983 when the visitors last won there.

Gordon Hunter would talk about his tale of woe from 1985. Gary Armstrong would be next to bare his soul. After that, Bryan Redpath, Andy Nicol and Mike Blair. Then, Chris Cusiter, Rory Lawson and Greig Laidlaw. Sam Hidalgo-Clyne and Henry Pyrgos would say their piece and then clear the stage for the main event - Ali Price.

Where do you start with Price? His fourth cap was at Twickenham in the spring of 2017. Two quick England tries and one early Mark Bennett injury and he was shunted on to the wing. He spent 63 of his 80 minutes in an alien position in the most unforgiving ground he'd ever set foot in in his life. England scored 61. Scotland scored - a whole lot less.

He remembers the bus journey back to the hotel, every mile in silence. He remembers sitting in the hotel that night and still nobody was saying a word. The glamorous world of big-time rugby, eh? "Dark," he says. "That Twickenham crowd - when they get on top of you it's a long road back."

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He knows about that road, though. He travelled it in 2019. All of Scotland's defeated Twickenham nines will have stories to tell but none of them can hold a candle to the 38-38, the vicious rollercoaster that saw Price looking for a hole to jump into at 31-0, a God to give thanks to at 38-31 and a bed to lie down in when the whole thing ended in a draw. From pain to elation to a mixture of the two - pelation, which isn't even a word, but nothing about that day made any sense, so let's just go with it.

And here he is now heading back for more, talking about what it would mean to him to be part of the first Scotland team in 38 years to win at Twickenham while knowing at the same time that talk is cheap. Rugby doesn't get any more challenging than this, he says. Or more exhilarating.

It's a new world these players are living in. The 2021 Six Nations, brought to you by Covid. Championship rugby, but not as we know it. "We're lucky," he says. "Most people aren't able to do the things they love doing at the moment, so the privilege of being able to play rugby is not lost on any of us, believe me. We've spoken a lot about that. We've also spoken about the potential dangers of being in a bubble all the time, away from family, away from kids. I don't have children, but some of the boys do and they won't be seeing much of them for the next while.

"That's not going to be easy, so we've been having these conversations. If you're struggling, talk to somebody. Don't go around with a cloud over your head. Mental health is a massive issue, now more than ever, and rugby players are no different to anybody else. We have to look after each other, on the field and off."

The ultimate test of their togetherness will come on Saturday. England are 1-6 to win the match and short odds to win the title, fans or no fans, atmosphere or no atmosphere. The home chariot is expected to blast straight through the Scots regardless.

Price has been around long enough not to make himself a hostage to fortune by coming out with bold predictions of an historic away win in the offing, but he travels in hope, that's for sure. Why wouldn't he when his old flat-mate, club-mate and mate, Finn Russell, is back at his side.

Russell has 'a brilliant brain on him'

Price says that Finn Russell (right) has found a new level of compromise

"We've all watched Finn in France and the guy is a class act," he says. "Our attack is something we've been struggling with, but we've got one of the best attacking 10s in he world leading things on Saturday, so that's only going to be an advantage. He's got a brilliant brain on him. It's awesome to have him back."

Price came into the team when Scotland's attack was sharp but its defence was blunt. For much of 2020, the reverse was the case. There's a lengthy list of things that must happen if the Scots are to win on Saturday, but the long and the short of it is that the pack must, at worst, break even and that Russell must carry on with his brilliance from the second half of that madcap Test from two years ago when Scotland scored five tries in 40 minutes and six tries in 46 minutes. No country had ever done that to England at Twickenham before.

Every strand of the Russell-Gregor Townsend drama has been analysed to death at this point. The relationship is working again and Price is a good man to explain why.

"Finn's found a level of compromise in him which he didn't have before," he says. "To the credit of the coaches, especially Gregor, the willingness to bounce ideas around has helped massively

"The whole environment has changed a hell of a lot since the World Cup. The amount of spotlight and pressure that was on Finn in the whole build up to Japan was huge. Everybody knows he's a great player and everybody knows that how Finn plays generally dictates how Scotland play and it's a lot of pressure to shoulder.

"The World Cup was the climax of it all, all the pressure and everything else that comes with it. It would have been great for him to be involved last year but at the same time maybe him having that break has made him better.

"The stress, it all went. Since then, we've become a much tighter group in terms of getting to know each other, coaches and players mixing more as in personal stuff, not just 'rugby, rugby, rugby, come watch clips of this and that'. There's more interest around what's going on in life now, the stuff that builds stronger relationships.

"A whole host of changes have been made over the last year that contribute to everybody being excited at being back in for the Six Nations. We're looking forward to seeing what happens."

'We have to find balance between defence and attack'

France, who lost at Murrayfield, were the only side to score more than one try against Scotland in the 2020 Six Nations

An empty Twickenham is a boost for Scotland, that's the thinking anyway. "There's no doubt that their crowd give the England boys massive energy," adds Price. "They're a tough lot to silence, but we're all kinda used to having to make our own energy now. Having no fans is the norm. It was eerie in the beginning but not anymore. It's not going to win us the game, put it that way.

"Last season we had the best defensive record in the tournament, which is great. We had to get those foundations in place and, yeah, maybe it meant that our attack took a bit of a hit. If you watch the games, though, there are three, four, five tries left out there and had some of those stuck then that might have changed the picture. We have that ability in us.

"Defences are really good at the moment off set piece, filling the field, 13 or 14 guys in the front line. It's almost easier not to have the ball at times. A lot of people get frustrated with all the kicking, but in certain matches it's better to play the long game and wait for mistakes off the back of it.

"We have to find that balance between defence and attack, kicking and running. As a team, we want to play and we've got the players to do it, but this is the Six Nations and you have to be clever about what you're doing."

Clever, clinical, even cynical. So much goes into competing, not to mind winning, at Twickenham. A loss and a draw already on his record, another shot awaits.