THERE is a lot to be said for putting a club side putting a national A team to the sword, even more so when it's with second-string players. Ahead of Glasgow Warriors' revenge mission in Connacht on Saturday, that is exactly what the squad dirt-trackers delivered against their Canada equivalents.

It was ruthless stuff and even though the club have bigger fish to fry at the weekend, it must have done Glasgow morale the power of good as the guys who will be running out at the Sportsground in Galway crammed themselves into the stand to watch their rivals strut their stuff.

They have seen for themselves that if they under-perform, there are realistic options for Gregor Townsend to make changes, and also proof that there are few clubs in the Guinness PRO12 who can match the strength in depth that Glasgow have built up.

The senior players will not, however, be reading too much into the lengthy injury list sent out yesterday by Connacht, listing 11 of their squad out injured for the weekend encounter with Marnitz Boshoff, the fly-half signed to replace AJ McGinty, who played in both the wins over Glasgow at the end of last season, not arriving until November.

Glasgow will spot that most of the key players from the end of last season who have stayed at the club, the likes of Bundee Aki in the backs and John Muldoon in the forwards, are still there to make sure the Sportsground faithful have something to shout about.

For Glasgow there was the encouragement of seeing their second string open as strongly as they did. Right from the start, there was an intensity about their play and a fragility about the Canada side that did not augur well for the visitors' chances.

Which is exactly how it panned out in the opening quarter. Canada struggled to retain possession and Glasgow punished them with glee. The game was only five minutes old when the Scots handed out a lesson in hanging on to the ball through the phases until eventually new Fijian scrum half Nemia Kenatale drove over for the opening score.

It did not take long to double their lead with Peter Murchie taking advantage of a turnover to run the ball back and put Nick Grigg in for the second score.

"It was awesome," he said afterwards. "First try for the the club, that was good. I dropped the ball once, which got me a bit frustrated, but other than that I felt confident out there on the field with the players inside me and outside me really communicating well. I felt comfortable both on defence and attack.

"I would really like to get more games for the team. Everybody, including me, has worked really hard. It has been a lot of graft but all that has paid off in the pre-season games with everybody looking fit and confident."

A perfectly placed touch finder from Kiwi fly-half Hagen Shulte set up try number three with the forwards driving the line out over the line and James Malcolm, the hooker, getting the touchdown.

So far, so easy, but to be fair to the young Canada side, they didn't seem to let it worry them too much and started to come more and more into the game. If only they could have hung on to the ball – all their promising moves ended with a sloppy pass or missed catch and Glasgow did not have too much trouble coping with everything the visitors could throw at them.

Instead of buckling, Junior Bulumaku, the Glasgow wing, set up another home attack with an interception. Two penalties as Canada scrambled back put Glasgow under the visitors' posts where George Horne, younger brother of Scotland back Peter, tapped and went over on his own.

With Schulte converting all four, Glasgow had a more than comfortable lead at the break and were ready to make wholesale changes in the second half, which did nothing to add to the fluency of the game with most of the newcomers being Premiership and Academy players.

As Canada made changes and started to tire as they reached the end of the third game of their European tour, Glasgow could afford to relax and run through a few moves, with Matt Fagerson, whose older brother Zander is already a Warriors regular, dropping a few hints with the first try of the second half.

He was followed over by Cammy Fenton and Josh Henderson, both on as replacements at hooker and fly-half respectively, and with a final flurry at the death, Henderson and Horne completed the scoring. These guys are hungry for success and the first team know they cannot afford to let their standards drop.

Scorers: Glasgow Warriors: Tries: Kentale (6), Grigg (10), Malcolm (15), Fagerson (48), Fenton (67), Henderson (72), Kelly (79), Horne (80+2). Cons: Schulte 5, Horne 4 Scoring sequence (Glasgow Warriors first): 7-0,14-0, 21-0, 28-0 (half time), 35-0, 41-0, 49-0, 56-0. 63-0.

Glasgow Warriors: P Murchie (C), J Bulumakau (R Beattie, 41), N Grigg (P Kelly, 44), F Lyle (P Kelly, 41-43), L Jones (rep:R Hughes, 41); H Schulte (J Henderson, 61), N Kenatale (G Horne, 7); A Allan (Rep: J Bhatti, 49), J Malcolm (C Fenton, 41), D Rae (J Firth, 49), S Thompson, G Peterson (K McDonald, 49), C Hunter-Hill (S McDonald, 41), M Fagerson, P McCallum (A Taylor, 41).

Canada: J Wilson-Ross (James Bay D Joyce, Dublin University, 68); K Lloyd (Mississauga Blues), M Samson (Calgary Saints, D Fraser, Ladysmith, 55), P Parfrey (Swilers), D Moor (Balmy Beach, S Hayward, Sydney, 68); R Povey (Bedford, G du Toit, UVIC Vikes, 30), G McRorie (Calgary Hornets, A McMullan, Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, 70); D Sears-Duru (Glasgow Warriors, A Luca, Burnaby Lake, 61), E Howard (Brantford Harlequins, A Mascott, UBC Thunderbirds, 38-41), R Kotlewski (Calgary Saints, C McClary, Port Alberni, 57), C Keys (UVic Vikes), K Baillie (Ohio, A Wadden, Oakville Crusaders, 63), A Cejvanovic (Burnaby Lake), N Dala (Castaway Wanderers, M Heaton, Darlington Mowden Park, 49), T Larsen.

Referee: B Whitehouse (Wales)

Attendance: 1719