Cancelliere getting up to speed

Sebastian Cancelliere can’t stop smiling as he pulls on the Glasgow Warriors jersey and faces the camera.

The winger ‘gies it laldy’ as he’s asked to demonstrate his try celebration as part of his headshots shoot, before laughing with Enrique Pieretto and Zander Fagerson as he moves on to the next station.

Having missed the original date for headshots due to his selection for Los Pumas in this year’s Rugby Championship, Cancelliere is catching up with his team-mates – yet he’s more than ready to hit the ground running as he prepares to make his club debut.

“It’s great to finally be back in Glasgow,” the winger told glasgowwarriors.org.

“I’ve loved linking up with the team and I’m excited to finally pull on the Warriors jersey this weekend. I feel ready to go and I’m really looking forward to the match.

“I’m really excited to be a part of this club and I hope I’ll do the jersey proud. Glasgow is a great city and the people are all really welcoming, and I want to do my best for them.”

Despite both the distance and the time difference, Cancelliere was a fully paid-up member of the Warrior Nation whilst on Argentina duty.

Indeed, the winger was keen to underline just how big an impression his fellow flyers had made, as he prepares to line up alongside them this weekend.

“I was keeping up to date with the games when we were away with Argentina,” he said.

“The boys have started the season really well, they’ve been playing some really great rugby and I can’t wait to be a part of that. We had two good wins at home, and now it’s time to take that form on the road.

“We’ve got some really great players out wide – Cole [Forbes], Kyle [Steyn] and Rufus [McLean] have all been playing extremely well and looking dangerous. I’d seen them play a bit last season, and it’s been so good to see them playing this well already this season.”

A trip to Parma awaits the Warriors this weekend, with the Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi set to be the venue for Cancelliere’s debut in Glasgow colours. The winger has been working closely with the coaching team in the week leading up to the fixture, putting in the extra hours to make sure he’s up to speed ahead of kick-off.

The debut is made that extra bit sweeter for the 28-year-old, too, by the presence of one of his compatriots in the matchday 23. Whilst Domingo Miotti’s debut still awaits the fly-half, Pieretto’s presence on the bench makes it a brace of Argentinians stepping onto the pitch tomorrow afternoon.

“It’s really good to have Enrique and Domingo here too,” smiled Cancelliere.

“Not only are they also Argentinian, but they’re also very good friends. To be able to share the experience with my friends is such a good feeling and I’m looking forward to a good season with them.

“I haven’t seen too much of Zebre, but I’ve been doing my homework on them with the coaches and the analysts in our previews this week.

“They have a lot of good attacking options, so it’s going to be a good test for us. We need to play well in order to get the win, and we know we’re capable of doing that.

“I hope the fans are as excited as I am!”