GLASGOW got their European Champions Cup campaign off to the perfect start last night with a four-try, five-point victory. The outcome could have been decided a lot earlier had Leicester centre Matt Toomua been red-carded early in the first half for a dangerous tackle on Finn Russell, but instead, the referee appeared to shirk responsibility for such a big call and only sinbinned the Australian international.

The Warriors took charge of the game with a three-try scoring burst in the first half, then wrapped up the win late in the second through Mark Bennett, who had come into the starting line-up as a late replacement for Alex Dunbar, who had been taken ill. Leonardo Sarto’s second try of the night five minutes from time only emphasised the Scots’ superiority, while Leicester have some serious self-examination to do after conceding a record number of points in a European fixture.

With half an eye on his team’s next Pool One game in Munster a week today, Gregor Townsend refused to get carried away by this result, despite his evident pleasure at the panache displayed by his team. “We took a bit to get going, and gave away too many penalties in the first half,” the Warriors coach said.

“We made a lot of mistakes in our set-piece attack in the second half too, so there’s a bit of work to be done next week. But we’re obviously delighted with the win. Five-nil is outstanding, and to score 40 points . . . ”

Leicester stand-off Owen Williams opened the scoring with a penalty after eight minutes, and up to that point it had been a tame game. Then came the tip tackle by Toomua, making his Tigers debut, that saw Russell only just avoid landing on his head by throwing out an arm to ensure his shoulder hit the deck first. A mass brawl ensued as the Glasgow players reacted with outrage, and there was further outrage from the home crowd when referee Mathieu Raynal only yellow-carded the Australian centre despite the clear and total disregard for his opponent’s safety. The Warriors were awarded a penalty too, of course, and Stuart Hogg was on target with a massive effort from a metre inside his own half.

With Toomua still off, Ryan Wilson was sinbinned for not retreating 10 metres at a penalty, and the Tigers capitalised immediately with a try from a lineout maul. Brendon O’Connor got the try, and Williams added the conversion.

It did not take line for Glasgow to hit back, however, and in a magnificent eight-minute spell they scored three tries to take control of the game. First a series of rucks ended with winger Leonardo Sarto darting through a gap to touch down, with

Russell converting to make it 10-10.

In the next attack the formula was the same. Some swift recycling took them deep into Tigers territory, and this time Fraser Brown finished the move off, again allowing Russell to convert from in front of the posts.

There was no let-up for Leicester, and in the very next attack Glasgow scored again, this time with captain Henry Pyrgos finishing off the move with a try which Russell failed to convert. Williams then reduced the deficit with his second penalty to make the score at the break 22-13.

Quarter of an hour of the second half passed before another score, a penalty from Russell. Glasgow then came within a metre of scoring after a breathtaking break from deep by Sarto, but the Tigers defence held them up on the line.

Logovii Mulipola was then yellow-carded for a scrum offence minutes after coming into the visitors’ front row. Glasgow had Leicester on the ropes, but could not deliver the knockout blow, which would have come if Gordon Reid had held a pass from Pyrgos with the line at his mercy.

In the end, however, the pressure yielded a penalty which Russell knocked over to put his team 28-13 ahead. That might have been a big enough lead to hold off a tiring Leicester side, but minutes later Bennett intercepted a wayward pass to score the bonus-point try from inside his own half. Sarto’s late score, again converted by Russell, was also an interception.

“Outplayed,” was the verdict of Leicester’s director of rugby Richard Cockerill, whose team are at home to Racing 92 . “They played better than us.

“We were inaccurate, made errors, and they were very good. No complaints. It looked relatively easy for them.

“It’s a pretty poor start from us. We’re not dead in the water, but we’ll need a huge improvement against a quality side next week.”

Scorers: Glasgow: Tries: Sarto 2, Brown, Pyrgos, Bennett. Cons: Russell 4. Pens: Hogg, Russell 2.

Leicester: Try: O’Connor. Con: Williams. Pens: Williams 2.

Glasgow Warriors: S Hogg; L Sarto, M Bennett, S Johnson (N Grigg 34), R Hughes (S Lamont 65); F Russell, H Pyrgos (A Price 70); G Reid (A Allan 65), F Brown (P MacArthur 70), Z Fagerson (S Puafisi 63), T Swinson, J Gray (M Fagerson 77), R Harley, R Wilson (L Wynne 73), J Strauss.

Leicester: T Veainu; A Thompstone, M Tait, M Toomua (F Burns 70), T Brady (P Betham 49); O Williams, B Youngs (S Harrison 71); E Genge (L Mulipola 56), T Youngs (H Thacker 45), D Cole (G Bateman 56), D Barrow (E Slater 65), G Kitchener, M Fitzgerald, B O'Connor (W Evans 70), L McCaffrey.

Referee: M Raynal (France). Attendance: 7351.