Two tries from Ruaridh Jackson, one from Lee Jones, a full 80-minute shift from Matt Fagerson in a rampant pack and a typically lively late cameo from George Horne saw Glasgow Warriors’ Commonwealth Games contingent say their farewells to their colleagues in the most spectacular fashion at the weekend.

A club record rout of Zebre, 10 tries in all registered as they beat the Italian side 68-7, surpassing by a point their effort against the same opponents three years earlier when beating them 70-10, meant they could, temporarily at least, hand over responsibility to the club’s Six Nations Championship regulars who will return in time for their next Pro14 match against the Scarlets, knowing they could not be better placed.

Once the club’s enfant terrible and still boasting a playful streak that has, this season, been demonstrated in the cultivation of his musketeer moustache and goatee, Jackson has just turned 30 and is – albeit just a few months older than Jones – the senior figure among that quartet who has regularly taken on media chores this season and in that role as 
dressing-room spokesman he expressed satisfaction with the way he and his fellow Gold Coast-bound colleagues had signed off .

“We can’t really complain about that. The boys were absolutely outstanding. We’ve had a lot of down weeks and we put in a lot of work on our shape and our strikes and organisation and I think we executed pretty well,” he said.

That word ‘executed’ may be among the more over-used in modern sport, but rarely has it felt more appropriately used because, for all that Jackson expressed a trace of sympathy for the beaten side, the Warriors performed the rugby equivalent of a hanging, drawing and quartering as they ripped their opponents to shreds. 

Jackson can, then, not only be forgiven for its use, but for the repetition of it during his analysis of the ritual sporting slaughter in which he had participated as he observed: “The scoreline will show it was an easy game, but Zebre have really improved this year, so we knew we had to be on our game all the way through and we were..

“We just got off to a really good start, executed exactly what we wanted to do and it’s always hard as a team when you come away from home and you lose a few early tries. It’s probably pretty disheartening, but we had a real focus on not slipping up. Once we scored the four tries we just wanted keep going, keep going. That’s a ruthlessness we just want to keep developing and it was great that the boys really finished 
it off well.”

A stand-off for most of his career, Jackson’s re-invention of himself as the stand-in full-back during Stuart Hogg’s long absences has doubtless reinforced his sevens credentials while, for all that he could yet have several seasons at top level, he has just passed the landmark birthday that often serves to remind professional sportspeople that their careers are short and ever opportunity must be seized. 

“I got asked about it [playing in the Commonwealth Games] a couple 
of months ago, whether I would be interested and it was something I didn’t really want to pass up,” he said. 

“Representing Scotland in a team games like that, for me it’s probably my last shot, so to go and take part  was something I was desperate to do.”

Those sevens commitments mean they will, though, only miss a couple of rounds of Pro14 matches, so will be back well in advance of the play-offs in which the Warriors are now all but arithmetically certain of having a home semi-final. 

There is an increasing sense that, as strong as their full squad now looks, some of the most intense encounters they have yet to face will be on the training ground once all the club’s international commitments have been fulfilled.

“Everyone’s been pushing for the run-in for the finals and they will keep doing that,” said Jackson. 

“It’s a good place to be when you’ve got that much depth 
within the squad. Throughout the period when the [Six Nations] boys have been away, the young guys have really shown what they can 
and hopefully there will be good competition in the last couple 
of months.”