GLASGOW WARRIORS 70

ZEBRE 10

FOR the first time this season, Glasgow Warriors top the PRO12 table this morning thanks to this, their biggest ever win in the league. That will change this afternoon if Leinster beat Ulster in Belfast, but there is no denying the fact that Gregor Townsend’s team are hitting top form at exactly the right time.

The penultimate game before the play-offs was a hurdle that they wanted to clear as cleanly as possible, and they did exactly that with a ten-try romp against the hapless Italians, who are now bottom. By contrast Connacht, who went into last night’s games ahead of them in second place, must be concerned about their own form after their surprising 22-21 loss in Treviso.

Officially, Gregor Townsend’s team have only now ensured that they will actually be in the play-offs for the fifth season in a row. In reality, they have been in unstoppable form for some time, and if they beat Connacht they will extend their winning run into double figures.

The Irish province’s hopes of a top-two place and a home semi-final have not been too damaged as a result of that defeat in Treviso alone, in the sense that they can still finish ahead of the Warriors if they beat the Scots at home a week today. But Glasgow can draw that game and secure second place - and, more importantly, they go into that last match of the regular season having rested some of their key players, with Townsend having given some of his fringe players a run out in what could have been their last outing at Scotstoun.

“The second half was excellent,” was the head coach’s verdict. “Parts of the first half were good, parts not so good. Some of the individual displays were outstanding tonight. I’m delighted.

“I don’t think you can read too much into the Connacht result. It’s the same scenario - we would have been two points behind, now we’re two points ahead.”

Duncan Weir converted all ten tries, and, while he should be involved in the semi-final wherever it is, this felt like a valedictory performance from the Edinburgh-bound stand-off. “Duncan showed tonight he was in the zone,” Townsend added. “The players that are leaving - you could tell tonight they really wanted to show how much this club means to them. And Duncan, being a Glasgow boy, showed that with his performance.”

Curiously, given what followed, the first opportunity to score was presented to Zebre centre Gonzalo Garcia, who was just short of goal with an early penalty attempt from halfway. That was the only chance to trouble the scoreboard in an opening ten-minute spell in which both sides sauntered around as if it were a meaningless end-of-season encounter rather a vital game.

That all changed, however, when Glasgow at last established a decent position within the Zebre half. Grayson Hart fed Leone Nakarawa from the base of a ruck, and, despite having three men in close attendance, the Fijian skipped through and scored.

Duncan Weir converted, and the crowd settled down, expecting the home team to take command. They did not do so immediately, as Zebre fought back to score through Kayle van Zyl.

That stung the Warriors into action, and they soon scored a second converted try when Jerry Yanuyanutawa and Pat MacArthur combined to put Adam Ashe through. Despite having played indifferently by their own standards, Glasgow were halfway to a bonus point with barely a quarter of the game played.

Zebre had put up some stiff opposition in the first half of their home game a few weeks earlier, leading at the break before being overwhelmed. Last night, however, their resistance appeared to be broken by that Ashe score, and the Warriors completed the job of securing the bonus point with five minutes to spare before half-time.

Glenn Bryce got their third try, breaking clear from inside his own half. Then Naiyaravoro claimed the fourth, bursting out of a tackle on the right. They did not stop there either, as Bryce soon claimed his own second after an excellent rush through the middle by Yanuyanutawa and some fine handling by several attackers.

Weir kept up his 100 per cent conversion record to take his team’s tally to 35, but the final score before the break went to Zebre, when Tommaso Boni wriggled clear to touch down in the left corner. Even so, despite such moments of laxness, the home side had to be content with an interval score that made the second half a formality.

The one-way traffic continued to flow after the break, as Nakarawa grabbed try No 6 from a loose ball in the Zebre 22. The Fijian, whose departure for Racing 92 was finally confirmed by his club this week, then completed his hat-trick after a rumble up the middle by the pack, with the scoring pass coming from substitute scrum-half Ali Price.

When Greg Peterson added an eighth try to pass the half-century, there was still quarter of an hour to play. And when Weir again added the extra points, he set a new Warriors record for conversions in a single match, surpassing the seven scored by Tommy Hayes against Pontypridd in 2001.

Price soon got his own account off the mark after more shoddy defending. Then Weir was presented with the tenth try by Mark Bennett, who crossed the line then waited for his team-mate to catch up.

Weir made it ten out of ten with the conversion, and then left the field to an appreciative round of applause. It will be a lot tougher in Connacht next week, but Townsend could hardly have hoped for better preparation than this.

GLASGOW: Tries: Nakarawa 3, Ashe, Bryce 2, Naiyaravoro, Peterson, Price, Weir. Cons: Weir 10.

ZEBRE: Tries: Van Zyl, Boni.

Glasgow Warriors: G Bryce; T Naiyaravoro, M Bennett, A Dunbar, S Lamont; D Weir (F Russell 76), G Hart (A Price 52); J Yanuyanutawa (G Reid 68), P MacArthur, D Rae (Z Fagerson 58), G Peterson (T Swinson 66), L Nakarawa (R Wilson 78), R Harley, S Favaro, A Ashe. Unused substitutes: F Brown, T Seymour.

Zebre: U Beyers; G Toniolatti (G Palazzani 52), T Boni, G Garcia (G Bisegni 14), K van Zyl; C Canna (K Haimona 78), L Burgess; A de Marchi (B Postiglioni 55), O Fabiani (E Coria 71), D Chistolini (P Ceccarelli 48), Q Geldenhuys, M Bortolami, E Caffini (A van Schalkwyk 39), F Cristiano, F Ruzza (G Koegelenberg 57).

Referee: A Brace (Ireland). Attendance: 6,800.