Peter Horne was so impatient to play a part in Glasgow’s RaboDirect PRO12 challenge after nearly a year out with injury that he brought himself to his knees.
His right knee was the one that required ligament reconstruction surgery, but it wasn’t the reason he found himself crawling in agony on his hands and knees that was a vile concoction aimed at speeding his recovery.
Horne, who makes his third start for the Warriors in their play-off run against Zebre at Scotstoun, switched to an anti-inflammatory diet to help aid his recovery from the injury he suffered playing against South Africa last June.
“It means lots of pineapple, lots of kale and every morning I have a glass of water with a tablespoon of turmeric my insides must be yellow by now and a glass of water with some cayenne pepper in it,” he said.
“But it was so minging to drink to start with, one time I just put both spices in the same glass, downed it like a shot, and thought, that’s much easier.
“Only within 10 minutes my stomach was exploding and I was on my hands and knees thinking ‘what have I done?’.”
It was all part of the 24-year-old’s determination to get back as soon as he could, which also involved hours online researching his recovery, speaking to others who’d returned from the same injury and working every hour he could.
He said. “I’m so happy to be back in the mix, I feel I am getting back to some sort of form, and this (play-off run) is a brilliant thing to be involved in.
“I was desperate to get back, there’s that special feeling around the club and it would have killed me to be on the sidelines through this.
“So I tried everything I could the diet, reading up on guys who’d come back from the injury to get back at the top like the NFL star Adrian Peterson, speaking to team-mates like Sean Lamont, Chris Cusiter and Mark Bennett about their experiences coming back from the injury.”
Once he was fit again, he just wanted his mates to hit him with everything they had.
“When I came back all I wanted was to be tested, so I asked Fuzzy (Chris Fusaro) and Tim Swinson to hit me as hard as they could in training.”
He continued: “The game against Ulster three weeks ago was the first time I got 70 minutes under my belt in a high-intensity game, and then there was last week in Treviso, I feel I’m up to pace now.”
The intensity hasn’t stopped either, with girlfriend Kirsten getting Monday off from work this week only to find that Peter was headed for Scotstoun for extra kicking practice.
“She’s put up with a lot in the last year,” he said.
In his absence, Finn Russell and Mark Bennett have blossomed in the centre, but both are out of tonight’s game and Horne’s effectiveness in his two starts so far bodes well.
“Some boys have played a lot of rugby and it’s maybe starting to tell, but I am desperate to be back in the mix, I feel fresh as a daisy and it’s like it’s only really October for me,” he said, which might augur well for Scotland’s forthcoming tour as well.
“We’ll all want a place in the semi-final, so all I’m thinking about is this game and trying to put forward a case like everyone playing against Zebre,” he added.
Lamont and Alex Dunbar return from injury tonight to make a case for semi-final selection, with that game, of course, at Scotstoun if Glasgow should get any kind of win against the Italians.
Gregor Townsend is wary of the improved form of the second-year side, that has fought its way to a chance of European qualification in the last month.
“They’ve beaten Ospreys and Edinburgh in recent weeks and pushed a number of teams close, and they have a big incentive, but we have our own incentive and some momentum,” the head coach said.
Townsend has restored Duncan Weir to fly-half, but rests Josh Strauss, Russell and Gordon Reid, who have all played six of the last seven matches.
Fijian Leone Nakarawa, who despite limited appearances, leads the PRO12 stats in offloads, will start his first game for the Warriors at number eight, with Ryan Wilson suffering from a shoulder injury.
“Leone is maybe the best athlete, not just best athletic forward, at the club,” said Townsend. “This is his first professional experience with 15s and he’s improved in all areas by leaps and bounds.”
The head coach says he knows his semi-final team, but admits that events tonight “could change things around a little”.