Need to Know: Zebre Parma v Glasgow Warriors, United Rugby Championship match preview 2021/22

KO 1.00 at Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi
Saturday 16th October 2021
Live on Premier Sports 1

• Debutant Sebastian Cancelliere is the first non-Scottish qualified back to play for Glasgow this season.
• With Oli Kebble, Enrique Pieretto and Sean Kennedy also in line for their first appearances of the campaign, the Warriors will have used 35 players across the opening four rounds of the United Rugby Championship.
• It has been 7½ months since Zebre last won a game in the URC, Rainbow Cup or PRO14. Benetton were 6 days shy of 8 months since their last victory in domestic competitions when they smashed Glasgow in Italy last April. The Warriors have had plenty of warning what happens when preparations are not perfect…
• Full back Cole Forbes is the Warrior to Watch.

Teams

Head to Head:

Back 3 – ADV Glasgow
Centres – EVEN
Half Backs – ADV Glasgow
Front Row – ADV Zebre
Second Row – ADV Glasgow
Back Row – EVEN
Subs – ADV Glasgow

Glasgow Greetings:

Sebastian Cancelliere will be the first Argentinian back to play for the Warriors since Gabriele Ascarate against Cardiff on 6 December 2013. Along with Domingo Miotti, the Pumas flyer is following in some pretty famous footsteps with the likes of compatriots, Bernardo Stortoni and Federico Aramburu having made their mark on Glasgow backlines of days gone by.

Richie Gray will play against Zebre for the first time ever for Glasgow. In fact, it has been a season of new experiences for the big man, with UIster at Ravenhill the only repeat of a fixture he played in during his first spell with the Warriors as well as savouring his first time in front of a crowd at Scotstoun.

Warrior to Watch:

With Stuart Hogg and Sean Maitland missing and Blair Kinghorn listed among the stand offs for Scotland’s training squad, Cole Forbes looks like he is in pole position to start at full back for the national side against Tonga.

The man from Pukekohe flew under the radar a bit as a new signing, arriving midway through the 2020/21 season. Even during a challenging campaign, Cole’s talents managed to shine through as he showcased his abilities in attack and defence – in particular under the high ball.

In 2021/22, he has continued where he left off. He tops the Warriors’ charts for metres made and clean breaks as well as being in a tie for top try scorer – with Jamie Bhatti of all people! He has also continued to be safe as houses when the kicking game takes over.

One area he might want to watch out for is discipline with no less than 3 yellow cards in his 9 games for Glasgow so far. Mind you, Bernardo Stortoni was yellow carded in each of his first 2 appearances for the Warriors and went on to be a certified club legend so maybe there is no cause for concern at a full back making some early adjustments!

Glasgow away to Zebre in the PRO12/14 era:

• 9 wins
• 8 try BPs
• 44 points out of a possible 45 (98%)

Officials:

Referee: Andrew Brace (IRFU, 69th league game)
AR1: Riccardo Angelucci (FIR)
AR2: Dario Merli (FIR)
TMO: Leo Colgan (IRFU)

Mr Brace’s record for 2020/21:

Matches – 17
Average penalty count – 21.5 per game
Home side penalties conceded percentage – 48.8%
Average card count – 1.1 per game
Penalties per card – 20.3

Glasgow’s first encounter with an Irish ref so far this season and it’s the current top dog in the IRFU’s pecking order in the shape of Mr Brace. The former scrum half does not have a high tolerance for constant yapping from those who play in his old position – George Horne beware. In fact, he generally isn’t keen on too much back and forth so Ryan Wilson will need to make the most of any chances to speak to the referee on Saturday.

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Additional ref stats from: https://www.cardiffrfcfans.com/analysis/referee_heads.php?countryID=3