Cancelliere fit for Italian trip
Glasgow Warriors welcome back their popular and prolific winger Sebastian Cancelliere for today’s trip to Italy to play Benetton but head coach Franco Smith has labelled the hosts favourites for the United Rugby Championship clash.
The Treviso team are unbeaten at home this season and lie fourth in the URC, four points behind the second-placed visitors. It’s Glasgow’s first visit to the Stadio Comunale di Monigo since Smith’s first game in charge in September 2022 which ended in a 33-11 defeat against his former club.
There were extenuating circumstances, not least the fact that the Warriors had had both their pre-season friendlies cancelled through no fault of their own. They have come on leaps and boundssincebutthecoachstill believes his team are underdogs this weekend.
“We didn’t have a good game there in my first game, which feels like many years ago,” he said. “I’m looking forward to going back and [it will] take our best effort. I think if we look at whoarefavouritesthenitisdefinitely them, having looked at their home record this season.
They’veonlylostagainstusand Leinster, both away. They’ve recruited very well. They’ve brought Eli Snyman back which is an important part of their team. They’ve got a really goodsquadthatsubstitutesthe players away on international dutyandtheyarewellcoached.
“The pressure is on them, they’d like to maintain their homerecordandwe,asayoung group,arejustexcitedtokickon from what’s happened against the Dragons and we know we’ll be challenged a lot more.”
Glasgow impressed in beatingthedragons40-7afortnight ago and make two personnel changes from that game. Jamie Bhatti, the loosehead prop, is out after a weight fell on his foot during a gym session and is replaced by Nathan Mcbeth. The other changeseescancelliere come in for his first appearance in almost three months. His inclusion means Jamie Dobie moves from wing to scrum-half, with Ben Afshar dropping to the bench.
Averaging a try every two games across his Glasgow career, Cancelliere’s return has been welcomed by Smith. The Argentina international last played against Northampton on December 8. He hurt his neck in the final play of the game and it developed into a bulging disc, said Smith who added that the player had been
using his time off to work on his power and speed.
“He’s been training well for a long while now but had to be cleared for contact,” said the coach. “He used the time away from the field very well. He brings a lot of value to the team so we’re very excited to have him with us. We know speed is very important in the role he plays, his agility and his ability tospeedchangewhenrunning. It’s not things we can always train in-season so he’s had a good chance to work on that.
“We’d like to promote our Scottish players and give them over in the best condition but sometimestheyneedtobemanaged and that’s why the foreignersplayandcomeintoourenvironment.sebhasbeenanexcellentexampleofthat,hestepsup to the plate every week and is so reliable and consistent.”