Warriors pull away from Zebre

Few could argue that Zebre did not deserve their 14-7 lead heading into half-time, Leonardo Sarto a particular standout as his try, allied to Guglielmo Palazzani's effort, handed them the advantage.

Fraser Brown had barrelled over in between those scores but the Warriors did not truly come alive until the second half came around.

They wasted little time as Price and Dunbar had crossed by 50 minutes gone, and the bonus-point win seemed secure when Peter Horne joined the scorers midway through the half.

The floodgates opened in the last ten minutes as Taqele Naiyaravoro, Jerry Yanuyanutawa and then Horne again got in on the act, and Glasgow finished up with the win that sees them leapfrog Scarlets into third.

The odds were stacked against Zebre, who have failed to beat Glasgow in six attempts and had not tasted victory in the Pro12 since January 3.

However, the Italians raced out of the traps, forcing the visitors onto the backfoot and Ali Price did well to clear his side's lines after a chip over the defence.

Zebre were not to squander their early dominance though as after superb interchanges between the backs, Sarto - who is heading to Glasgow next season - raced across in the corner. Fellow Italy international Carlo Canna was spot on with the conversion.

That score seemed to wake the Warriors from their slumber and Rob Harley was held out from the line following a driving line-out.

Shortly after, Peter Horne could not quite gather in the ball with a try surely on and then brave resistance saw Zebre repel the danger from the scrum.

The Glasgow breakthrough came on the quarter-hour when, after Jonny Gray's surge into the 22, Fraser Brown bustled over and Duncan Weir's conversion tied up the scores.

At the other end, the Warriors were still struggling to contain the lively Sarto and just five minutes on from Brown's score, Zebre retook the lead.

Sarto was at the move's heart but fellow Italy man Palazzani got the touch down, and the extras from Canna extended the advantage back out to seven points.

Things got harder for Glasgow as Brown was forced off the field in place of Pat McArthur, on his 100th Pro12 appearance, but Gonzalo Garcia's penalty miss earned them a reprieve.

Zebre ended the half on top though the visitors deserved credit for remaining defiant and the score remained 14-7 heading into half-time.

Glasgow were a renewed forced in the second half and Naiyaravoro forced the issue up the field.

When the ball came back to the opposite flank, Tommy Seymour was bustled into touch though it did not take long before the Warriors were smiling.

It came via a fine solo effort from Ali Price, as starting from outside Zebre's 22, he found enough space to crash over between the posts - and the conversion from Weir made it all square again.

And the turnaround was complete when Scotland centre Dunbar ran a scything angle and nothing was coming between him and the whitewash when he collected the ball.

With Weir's conversion, suddenly Glasgow led by seven and a bonus-point win looked on the cards by the time Horne finished a patient move in the 58th minute.

A complication came in the form of McArthur's sin-bin on the hour-mark and it sparked a period of end-to-end action, with Dunbar again looking dangerous after a fantastic break.

But the score had not changed by the time McArthur was reintroduced and upon his return Glasgow stepped on the gas.

Naiyaravoro, Yanuyanutawa and Horne scored quickfire tries that were perhaps harsh on Zebre, but made sure of another emphatic win for the Warriors.

The scorers:

For Zebre:

Tries: Sarto, Palazzani

Cons: Canna 2

For Glasgow:

Tries: Brown, Price, Dunbar, Horne 2, Naiyaravoro, Yanuyanutawa

Cons: Weir 3, Russell

Teams:

Zebre: 15 Kayle Van Zyl, 14 Dion Berryman, 13 Matteo Pratichetti, 12 Gonzalo Garcia, 11 Leonardo Sarto, 10 Carlo Canna, 9 Guglielmo Palazzani, 8 Gideon Koegelenberg, 7 Federico Ruzza, 6 Emiliano Caffini, 5 Marco Bortolami (c), 4 Quintin Geldenhuys, 3 Dario Chistolini, 2 Oliviero Fabiani, 1 Andrea Lovotti

Replacements: 16 Bruno Postiglioni, 17 Andrea De Marchi, 18 Pietro Ceccarelli, 19 Valerio Bernabò, 20 Filippo Cristiano, 21 Luke Burgess, 22 Giulio Bisegni, 23 Ulrich Beyers

Glasgow: 15 Glenn Bryce, 14 Taqele Naiyaravoro, 13 Alex Dunbar, 12 Peter Horne, 11 Tommy Seymour, 10 Duncan Weir, 9 Ali Price, 8 Ryan Wilson, 7 Simone Favaro, 6 Rob Harley, 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Leone Nakawara, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 Fraser Brown, 1 Gordon Reid

Replacements: 16 Pat MacArthur, 17 Jerry Yanuyanutawa, 18 D'arcy Rae, 19 Greg Peterson, 20 Adam Ashe, 21 Henry Pyrgos, 22 Finn Russell, 23 Mark Bennett

Referee: Ian Davies (Wales)

Assistant Referees: Matteo Liperini, Filippo Bertelli 

TMO: Stefano Roscini