SEAN Lineen yesterday hailed new signing Jose Maria Nunez Piossek as a genuine bargain who can help develop young Scottish talent coming through the Glasgow ranks.
After losing Daryl Gibson, the former All Blacks centre, to the Crusaders in August, the Glasgow coach has been searching for similar international experience to stiffen his back division. He has also lost back three player Colin Shaw to a knee injur
y, at least until November, and so the Argentine's ability to cover centre and wing was especially helpful – as was his close friendship with Glasgow full-back Bernardo Stortoni.
Lineen said: "It is not easy finding the kind of talent you want; the player who can operate in more than one position, who will fit in well with a squad already into a new season and, to be honest, someone we can afford. Jose's availability came up at the perfect time and he is a terrific bargain.
"He had recently returned to Argentina from Bayonne in France and was just desperate to get back into full-time rugby, so Berni (Stortoni] spoke to him, and obviously swung it by telling him how good the weather was here, and then I spoke to him and he was just so enthusiastic about being part of the success we're trying to build at Glasgow.
"I've obviously watched him, most recently when he played against Scotland in the first Test in Argentina in June, and he is a talented rugby player. he will inevitably take time to settle in once he gets here, but supporters will see a tough, clever player who knows where the try-line is.
"What I also like is that we're getting a good, honest, hard-working player. That's possibly the best quality – his attitude to working hard and still being very keen to improve with Glasgow, and develop youngsters, despite having won 30 caps and being 31 years old. So, from my point of view, it just seemed like too good an opportunity to let go by."
The Pumas record try-scorer, with 30 from 30 Test matches – including nine in a 144-0 win over Paraguay in 2003 – has signed a contract until the end of the season with an option to stay another year.
The SRU is currently ploughing through the visa red tape, but if that passes without a hiccup, and his medical is also successful, he should be in Glasgow by mid-October.
Lineen is still to clarify whether he is wanted for Argentina's autumn series, as the Pumas bid to hold on to a top four spot in the IRB World Rankings and so a place among the top seeds in the 2011 World Cup draw.
But he will be definitely available throughout the Six Nations period and Lineen anticipates other times when he will help provide some leadership to younger players.
The coach was delighted with the performances of his outside backs in last Friday's Magners League win over Scarlets, notably Max Evans at outside centre, his younger brother Thom, Lome Fa'atau and Stortoni, but he insisted that he could not play them in every game of the Magners League and Heineken Cup season when all but Fa'atau could also be involved in international matches.
He added: "I'm quite excited about the younger talent we have coming through and so the opportunities to rest some of the front-line guys are great chances to expose younger guys to the top level, but you have to think about how you do it and one thing that is crucial is that they are helped through their early games by experienced players.
"So, if we're giving Ruaridh Jackson, Chris Kinloch or Peter Horne, for example, opportunities people like Jose are invaluable."
In a seven-year international career, Piossek's recent appearances for the Pumas included the victory over Scotland in Rosario and the defeat to South Africa in Cape Town in August – a game staged as part of the 90th birthday celebrations for Nelson Mandela.
The full article contains 677 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
