Glasgow cut loose in Parma

Editor

Glasgow continued their charge up the PRO12 table as they came from behind to defeat Zebre 43-14 with a bonus-point in Parma on Friday.

Zebre had taken an early lead through Leonardo Sarto, before tries from Fraser Brown and Guglielmo Palazanni made the score 14-7 at half-time.

Glasgow were quick out the blocks after the break, with Ali Price and Alex Dunbar both scoring from range to take their side in to the lead.

The game finished with a flourish, as Taqele Naiyaravoro, Jerry Yanuyanutawa and Peter Horne (2) all carried over in the final ten minutes.

Zebre opened the scores early on as their backs combined nicely, before finding Sarto to go over in the corner after just three minutes. Carlo Canna added the extras from the tee.

As Glasgow piled on the pressure after going behind, hooker Brown carried over in the sixteenth minute, allowing Duncan Weir to level the scores with the conversion.

Quick handling through the Zebre backs saw them break free of the Glasgow defence, before Palazanni scored under the posts, and Canna slotted his second conversion of the game.

Soon after the break, Glasgow scrum-half Price demonstrated his individual brilliance after spotting a gap in the Zebre defence to score from more than 20 metres out. Weir converted from in front of the posts.

Moments later Glasgow took the lead for the first time through Dunbar, as he carried home from Zebre's 22 before Weir slotted once again. 

After an impressive break from Henry Pyrgos, the ball found its way in to the hands of Horne to secure a bonus point for the Warriors. Having replaced Weir five minutes earlier Finn Russell slotted the conversion with his first attempt at the posts, but Glasgow saw replacement hooker Pat MacArthur sent to the sin bin for a late tackle shortly after.

The Warriors sealed an emphatic victory in Parma with three tries in the final ten minutes, as Naiyaravoro and Yanuyanutawa carried over before Horne scored his second of the night.

A poor display of kicking from Russell saw him miss all three conversions, as the game came to an end at 43-14 in favour of the visitors.

The scorers:

For Zebre:
Tries: Sarto, Palazzani
Con: Canna 2

For Glasgow:
Tries: Brown, Price, Dunbar, Horne 2, Naiyaravoro, Yanuyanutawa
Con: Weir 3, Russell

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 (both FIR)
TMO: Stefano Roscini (FIR)