GLASGOW can display considerable artistry in attack when the mood takes them, but this demolition job was simplicity itself. They scored their opening try from a lineout drive within a few minutes, and, seeing that the formula worked, repeated it time after time. After time.
Six times in all, in fact, with hooker Johnny Matthews claiming three of them. Not every assault on the Zebre line from a throw-in produced a score - thankfully for the hapless Italians. But the percentage return was high enough to ensure the Warriors of a comfortable victory that has taken them up to third place in the URC table.
Matthews wasted little time in getting the scoring under way, barging over with just a few minutes on the clock. Ross Thompson converted, and we did not have long to wait before the second, very similar score.
Mathews was stopped - legally this time - at the back of a lineout maul. But he got the ball back safely, and on the next phase Oli Kebble used all of his bulk to bulldoze his way over the line. The stand-off added the extras again, and the 14-0 lead was exactly the sort of statement of intent that Danny Wilson was looking for from his side after last week’s disappointment in Cardiff.
The departure of Jamie Dobie for an HIA midway through the first half perhaps disrupted the Warriors’ attacking rhythm for a few minutes, but once they got back into gear they easily scored a third. The lineout maul was again the weapon of chance, and this time when it was dragged down just short of the line, it was Ryan Wilson who finished off. The referee had a second look before confirming the score, apparently suspecting a double movement, but he was satisfied with what we saw and Thompson converted from wide on the right to keep up his 100 per cent record.
Not long after Dobie returned to the fray, Carlo Canna had to depart temporarily after being downed behind his own line, having carried over then trying and failing to run out of defence after chasing a long kick. A strong five-metre scrum by Glasgow gave Dobie the perfect chance to plunge over for the bonus-point try, with Thompson once more adding two points.
Minutes before the break, Zebre’s best chance so far to score was ended by a forward pass. But on Glasgow’s next attack, a hopeful pass by Cole Forbes out on the left wing was snatched out of the air by Alessandro Fusco, and the scrum-half ran 80 metres to claim his team’s first points of the game. Antonio Rizzi’s conversion attempt failed.
Given the way they had collapsed in the last half-hour against Cardiff, it was vital that the Warriors start the second half with real purpose. They did so, with Matthews scoring within minutes from - what else? - a lineout drive. Thompson missed the conversion attempt for the first time in the match.
Things then got worse for Zebre when blindside flanker Potu Leavasa was sent to the sin bin for a high tackle on Forbes. The penalty went to touch, but Zebre dug on and stopped the Warriors’ drive. Eventually, though, the pressure told. Matthews completed his hat-trick, Thompson converted to take his team’s tally to 40, and Matthews soon left the field to a well-deserved ovation.
Minutes before time Sebastian Cancelliere thought he had scored his team’s seventh try after chasing down a kick ahead, but it was chalked off when a review showed he had not had the ball under control. It was Zebre who had the last word when Luca Andreani finished off from close range and Rizzi converted.
Scorers: Glasgow: Tries: Matthews 3, Kebble, Wilson, Dobie. Cons: Thompson 5.
Zebre: Tries: Fusco, Andreani. Con: Rizzi.
Yellow card: Zebre: Leavasa 46.
Glasgow Warriors: D Miotti; S Cancelliere, K Steyn, S McDowall, C Forbes (R Fergusson 62); R Thompson (D Weir 66), J Dobie (S Kennedy 19-28); O Kebble (J Bhatti 59), J Matthews (G Stewart 64), M Walker (E Pieretto 59), R Harley, S Cummings, R Wilson (captain), R Darge (K McDonald 65), J Dempsey (A Miller 59).
Zebre Parma: J Trulla; J Laloifi (M Biondelli 61), E Cronjé, E Lucchin, A Tuivuaka; C Canna (A Rizzi 32-40), A Fusco (G Palazzani 74); D Fischetti (P Buonfiglio 61), L Bigi (G Ribaldi 54), E Bello (I Neculai 59), D Sisi (captain), L Mitchell, P Leavasa (L Andreani 59), I Bianchi (A Zambonin 70), T Fox-Matamua.
Referee: A Jones (Wales).
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