GLASGOW moved into second place in the United Rugby Championship table with a thoroughly comprehensive win over Scarlets.
Kyle Rowe was the pick of the bunch with a hat-trick against their Welsh hosts who struggled with their discipline throughout and had three men yellow-carded.
Scott Cummings, Johnny Matthews and Gregor Hiddleston all got over the line too, with the scoring rounded off by a penalty try in a one-sided affair.
Here are five things we learned from a terrific night for Glasgow at Parc y Scarlets.
Glasgow have to be considered URC contenders
Scarlets are a poor side who offered little in the way of an attacking threat but the clinical way in which Glasgow took them apart to move above the Bulls into the second place in the table shows they are a team enjoying a rich vein of form.
READ MORE: Five things we learned as Edinburgh slump to Sharks defeat
With their Scottish internationals drip fed back into the line-up over the last two weeks, they can now approach the final part of the season with a full squad, giving head coach Franco Smith plenty of selection headaches.
Warriors still have to travel to South Africa for two games – including a tasty match-up with the Bulls – but they remain very much on track to be up there competing come the latter stages of this year's playoffs.
Kyle Rowe might well be the pick-up of the season
The winger was at something of a low ebb last summer after missing a year’s action with an ACL injury and then seeing his former club London-Irish going bust. Glasgow offered him a fresh start and have been rewarded in spades for that move as evidenced here as Rowe ran in a hat-trick.
The winger modestly played down his contribution as simple walkovers but he showcased his bravery early on – wiped out in the air earning Tom Rogers a yellow card – while always being willing to show for a pass and take on his man.
He left it late to complete his hat-trick but it was well earned for this latest bright performance in a memorable debut season at Scotstoun.
There’s life in the Glasgow maul yet
In the first half of the season it felt that Warriors only had to kick to the corner to add five points to their tally given the effectiveness of the maul drive, with Johnny Matthews the main one to benefit as he flopped over the ball time and time again.
That route to the line seemed to have dried up in recent weeks but Warriors stuck to their guns and got their rewards last night. Fellow hooker Gregor Hiddleston followed in Matthews’ footsteps by claiming the glory first of all after his team-mates had driven him over the line. Matthews thought he had got one of his own after coming off the bench only for it to be given as a penalty try before he could flop down but finally got his name on the scoresheet later on as Scarlets lost their shape and discipline.
The maul has become a very useful tool to have and Glasgow have the players to make it function efficiently.
Warriors will give Harlequins a run for their money
Friday’s Champions Cup last 16 tie at the Stoop is shaping up to be a cracker and on this form Glasgow will head there with nothing to fear.
Franco Smith has managed his squad well over the last two weeks and all of his fit Scotland players should be available for the match at the Stoop, with Zander Fagerson, Scott Cummings – who scored Glasgow’s third try after a brave charge-down - and Rory Darge slotting back in nicely in this contest.
With Sione Tuipulotu also having an outside chance of making it as he returns faster than expected from a knee injury, Warriors won’t go down there with any inferiority complex.
Duncan Weir could still have a role to play at Glasgow
Adam Hastings’ arrival in Scotstoun in the summer should finally give Warriors a reliable week-in-week-out number 10 but Weir’s experience could yet prove vital as cover next season, especially given Ross Thompson hasn’t developed as expected.
Weir will soon turn 33 but his ability to control the game and his kicking both remain on point as he showed again here. The former Scotland fly-half could be a useful figure to keep around the place next season.
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