Glasgow bound Cancelliere: “I want to play for some years in Europe. If all those years are in Glasgow, then that’s welcome”.

Glasgow Warriors signing Sebastián Cancelliere cuts through the Chilean defence as Jaguares XV took on Selknam Rugby in SLAR.

Glasgow Warriors’ inbound Argentina International Winger Sebastián Cancelliere is relishing the challenge ahead in Glasgow, after signing a two-year contract for the outfit, signalling his first spell playing rugby for a club based outside of Argentina.

The winger was a surprise omission from Los Pumas squad travelling to Europe this summer, after he was named ‘tryman’ and LATAM Airlines player of the tournament in South America’s first professional league, the Superliga Americana de Rugby (SLAR), but has his mind firmly set on making an impact at the Warriors.

“Now I’m really, really focused on playing in Glasgow and showing the best of me in Scotstoun. I knew that Danny was looking for me and that he’s looking forward to meeting me soon”.

With the Rainbow Cup coming into the final stages, competition for places in Glasgow’s back three has increased too, with Rufus McClean, Cole Forbes and Ollie Smith all taking their opportunities well.

“Now there are some young boys, McClean, Ollie Smith that are now playing and I saw some highlights and they’re good players and I hope that when I join them, we can have some fun. I also love watching Huw Jones play, he is a great, great player so it’s a shame he is leaving”.

Of course, coming to Glasgow, Cancelliere will not be the only Argentinian in the squad, and has done his homework on the Warriors.

“Kike [Enrique] Pieretto is a good friend of mine and when we started communications, I of course talked with him and asked him about the club and everything”.

Having graduated as an industrial engineer in 2020, and got married in 2021, Europe is the next frontier for Cancelliere.

“I want to play for some years in Europe. If all those years are in Glasgow, then that’s welcome, I think that would be really nice”.

 “I’m going to Europe with my wife to live some years and I want a good experience, I don’t know how many though because I want to retire at Hindú club, my club here in Argentina, where all of my friends and family are”.

Playing in Argentina has been a whirlwind few years, taking the winger from the 2019 Super Rugby final against Crusaders, to playing in the SLAR against newly formed professional outfits from Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Paraguay and Uruguay.

“Of the twenty-three that we [Jaguares] played against the Crusaders in 2019, I think just me, and Felipe Ezcurra are playing this tournament (SLAR) the others are all abroad now, but yes of course there are lots of great players. We are the team the others in the league want to beat.”

Though some have questioned the tournament’s value, with Jaguares posting some hefty score lines against their regional rivals, Cancelliere has taken big positives from the competition.

“For me, I played 9 games in a month and a half and that’s really positive for me. It’s nice to have some match rhythm, because its not the same just training and running by myself”.

“These are some changes that Argentina rugby is going through, but I think its good for the region to improve and to develop, and we [Argentina] have to be the motor of all this development, that’s our role now”.

“[In SLAR] Almost all teams can beat all of the others and that’s exciting. Also, there are lots of Argentinians in all the other clubs, and that makes them a little stronger which is exciting for us”.

Indeed, with 19 clean breaks, 14 tries scored and a 91% tackle success rate, you won’t be surprised to hear the Argentine enjoyed himself. Now the ultimate test beckons; can he do it on a frozen night in Galway?

The Scribbler, 31st May, 2021

**KIT DONATION TO BOLIVIAN RUGBY** Please click for more information. Information at the end of the page.

Twitter: @RugbyScribbler

Facebook: The Rugby Scribbler

rugbyscribbler@gmail.com

Rugby’s Greatest Championship

UPDATED VERSION: 20/03/2021

Following Scotland’s absolute dominant obliteration of France….., which ensured Wales deservedly lifted their title, I want to reshare a piece from a few weeks back. Before we discuss relegating the French, lets discuss Rugby’s Greatest Championship.

The Six Nations calls itself ‘Rugby’s Greatest Championship’, but at times in the past, that has felt disingenuous. I mean sure, in the general Six Nations furore in the UK and at the stadiums it’s great, but for outsiders watching, it has at times felt like a bit of a stretch, particularly compared to the out and out excitement The Rugby Championship so regularly brings to the neutral fan.

However, a look back on the last year of rugby really illuminates that ‘greatest’ tag and brings it to the fore. As the world tentatively reopened following the initial round of global coronavirus lockdowns, sport was a welcome return to normality.

Sure, most of us couldn’t get to the grounds and the sporting world was divided along the lines of crowd noises or no crowd noises, but the fact we could see 46 blokes chucking a ball about and trying to steam-roll one another was the welcome distraction many of us needed.

Super Rugby Aotearoa was any rugby fans dream. The Guinness PRO14 opted for a vastly truncated season, whilst the Premiership put players through the meat grinder to ensure profits and that a shiny trophy was handed over live on BT Sports. Neither northern hemisphere option was ideal, but they marked a start.

Then we had the financially justifiable, turgid borefest that was the inaugural (and hopefully final) Autumn Nations Cup. Rugby? Check. TV deal for much needed cash injection? Check. Entertainment? Painfully absent.

Finally, there was Europe. Then that stopped too. Generally the rugby has been better than nothing, but conversation was still driven to a large degree by the effect COVID was having on the game, and understandably so.

In all the negativity, questions over the Lions tour, over Europe, many of us saw the Six Nations creep up on us. Personally, I just sort of expected it to be cancelled or delayed; but it wasn’t and oh my, what a tournament it was .

It started with Scotland undoing 38 years of history by beating England at Twickenham, which unfortunately they couldn’t back up until they met Italy in the *final* round on Super Saturday. France scored some outrageous tries and had one of their strongest tournament in years. Ireland finished strongly whilst England underwhelmed. The less said about Italy, the better; they will get better. Wales? You could definitely say they got “the rub of the green” on occasion, but you make your own luck and they took their opportunities well, scoring a lot of tries along the way. Ultimately, the deserve their title.

Through all of the ups and downs of the tournament, there was one thing that was almost all to easy to forget, as perfectly summed up by Graham Love:

It can be an absolute gut punch at times. But at the end of another intense 6Nations round it’s dawned on me how little I’ve thought about the whole lockdown & global pandemic thing this past week. God I love this tournament.

— Graham Love (@glove931) February 14, 2021

Now of course, COVID did affect things. We saw more away wins, as fans were absent, the PA systems left to blast the anthems of crowds gone by. I’m sure psychologically that was a factor. But somehow, none of the magic was lost.

Old rivalries felt renewed, the controversies just as hotly debated as ever, and the tension and excitement became all consuming. Crucially, the conversations were driven by the rugby and not the global situation surrounding it, and oh how welcome that was. The tournament was largely untouched by COVID, and it was all too easy to forget about everything for a few sweet hours every weekend.

At this juncture I will address the pangolin in the room– a few clandestine roman waffles for a bunch of cocks (that’s the alias for the French rugby team, isn’t it?) meant that tonight’s Scotland vs France fixture was rescheduled. Not a clean-sheet, but a decent old effort.

Despite the lapse of some waffle hungry Frenchmen, the point remains that COVID has figured in discussions only in minor part which was unequivocally refreshing. With the competition so open, so entertaining, and such a distraction, this year more than ever shows why the Six Nations truly is Rugby’s Greatest Championship. Perhaps the only thing missing was a few pint with our pals.

The Scribbler, 18th February 2020 26th March.

Twitter: @RugbyScribbler

Facebook: The Rugby Scribbler

rugbyscribbler@gmail.com

*DISCLAIMER* The Rugby Scribbler and Robert Yarr are not responsible for any resulting cancellations, genetic mutations, or anything which will no doubt convert this piece into a decisively bad omen.

PRO14: Time to Secure a Quality Broadcasting Deal

Premier Sports geo-blocked the UK for the first derby of the weekend: Dragons vs Cardiff Blues.

Another round of derbies brought yet another round of technical hiccups from Premier Sports. With 2021 bringing the arrival of the Rainbow Cup (which will see the 4 South African ‘super’ sides face off against the current Pro14 competition’s finest). With current tenants Premier Sports’ contract expiring at the end of 2021, it’s time for the PRO14 to sort out its broadcasting deal.

Premier Sports Summarised

First, lets take a look at the current deal and its predecessor.

On paper, the 2018 Premier Sports deal brought huge promise with unprecedented coverage; all 152 games produced live by Sunset & Vine, weekly highlights, and a few games on free-to-air with Free Sports and others. All of this at just £9.99 a month, or as little as £89 for 12 months. On the latter deal of those two, that’s less than 60p a game.

Though some were disappointed, in reality this deal presented excellent value for fans, particularly those who would have otherwise struggled to watch games from teams outside of their country, due to the fragmented broadcasting situation. Previously, games were broadcast across multiple channels such as multiple BBC stations, S4C, as well as a handful of games being carried on Sky Sports. Though most was coverage was free to air, many of the big games were held exclusively by Sky Sports; not an attractive combination when you consider their high prices and low output for the league.

The problem with the current deal is in the delivery. Many games have been unwatchable due to an array of problems- from geo-blocking, to sound issues, to a broken feed, a crackly feed, or just a non-existent feed on the online Premier Player. The reality is that it is a gamble every single week as to whether fans will be able to see their teams play. Especially in times of COVID where fans are not able to get to the grounds, it is not acceptable to have such a poor level of service.

As for the commentary teams- they have taken a lot of flak. Personally, I think the teams are good on the whole. When the channel works, the on-screen product is more or less what I want- perhaps a Scrum V highlights show weekly that covered all the nations would be good, but that’s about all I miss.

Again, it’s the delivery of the service that is the issue. Having defended it as good value for years, I’m getting tired of the technical issues and moreover, the lack of response from Premier Sports.

The Future

The league now finds itself at a juncture. Premier Sports are contracted to broadcast the remainder of the season, followed by the Rainbow Cup, before (it is assumed) growing into an expanded PRO16 competition.

This presents a huge opportunity for the PRO14- the World Cup holding rugby union has placed all of its chips in the PRO14 basket for its club rugby. The potential on-field product is massive, the market even more so. However, if viewers are met with dodgy feeds and incomplete coverage, it couldn’t matter less. With committed fans growing tired of it, certainly new fans will be even harder to bring on-side.

This is a pivotal moment for the PRO14 and for Premier Sports. The coverage either needs to drastically improve, or a new broadcaster needs to be brought on board. Financially, the sums expected cannot yet be expected to match those of far more established competitions, but can nonetheless look to give a welcome cash injection to the league (the addition of Cheetahs and Southern Kings more than doubled broadcast income revenues in 2018). In short, there is huge potential for financial growth.

If all of this can be achieved, alongside a few seasons of stability, there’s potential to develop a really attractive product and more lucrative deals in the future- but the right steps needs to be taken now.

The Scribbler, 28th December 2020

Twitter: @RugbyScribbler

Facebook: The Rugby Scribbler

rugbyscribbler@gmail.com