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
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