Five things we learned from Glasgow's loss to Zebre

The hosts had a maul try chalked off for a knock-on but crossed inside the opening quarter when scrum-half Alessandro Fusco dived over from close range. Giovanni Montemauri converted to put Zebre 7-0 up.  

And the Italians extended their advantage when wing Albert Batista, drafted in from club side Colorno, collected an offload to score after a break by Italy cap Enrico Lucchin. Montemauri converted again for 14-0.  

It took until just before the break for the Warriors to enjoy a sustained period inside the Zebre 22, but after three mauls were repelled by the hosts, they won a turnover penalty and cleared to touch to take a deserved lead into the break.  

Glasgow made wholesale changes at the interval but still were unable to string together any sustained pressure and Zebre made them pay with a third try. After fullback Fergus Watson put his foot on the line fielding a kick deep into the Warriors’ 22, the hosts mauled their way to the line with Giampietro Ribaldi credited the score. 

Even when Richie Simpson intercepted on his own line, Glasgow could not get players in support of the fly-half and the move amounted to nothing.  

Zebre added a fifth try when Gregor Hiddleston spilled in the tackle and Felipe Bozonni ran clear under the posts. Priscantelli converted to extend the hosts’ lead to 24-0.  

The experienced fullback added his own name to the list of try scorers when he gathered another loose ball to run clear of Warriors back-row Macenzzie Duncan and touch down.  

Glasgow had a chance to get on the scoreboard late on, but the hosts got hands to the lineout throw to secure an impressive pre-season win.  

1 Warriors with work still to do before title defence begins 

Glasgow may be missing most of their Scotland internationals, but this was a performance well below the levels Franco Smith’s side set last season.

They struggled badly at the scrum, had lineouts go astray and couldn’t put together any sustained attacking phases without coughing up the ball one way or another.  

2 But plenty of players still to return  

Glasgow started this match with five internationals among their side, while the likes of Sione Tuipulotu, Huw Jones, captain Kyle Steyn, Zander Fagerson and Richie Gray all stayed back in Glasgow having only recently returned to training.  

They will presumably come into the equation for next weekend’s clash with Connacht at Scotstoun when Smith, and Warriors fans, will hope to see a performance much more akin to the ones that took Glasgow to the title last season.  

3 Too many errors 

At least three of Zebre’s five tries came directly from Glasgow mistakes as the Warriors struggled to put together any periods of pressure inside Italian territory. Too often they lost the battle of the gainline and found themselves on the back foot. Zebre looked the sharper of the two teams and, by contrast, took almost every opportunity the Warriors afforded them.  

4 Struggles at the scrum 

Glasgow found themselves under pressure at the scrum, something of a surprise considering they started the match with Scotland international Jamie Bhatti on the loosehead side, and summer signing Patrick Schickerling on the other. Former Exeter man Schickerling was given a tough time at the set-piece. Maybe that explains why the Warriors sent for ex-Melbourne Rebels man Sam Talakai.  

5 Some signs of promise from youngsters 

Despite the result, there were some signs of encouragement from some of Glasgow’s young players. Duncan Munn was busy in the midfield and number eight Jack Mann carried well, while also contributing one thumping tackle to the defensive effort.  

Fly-half Richie Simpson – who trained with the senior Scotland squad during the Six Nations - and wing Amena Caqusau had some good moments during the second half.  

Zebre: G Priscantelli, B Cambriani, G Bertaccini, E Lucchin, A Batista, G Montemauri, A Fusco; M Hasa, T di Bartolomeo, J Pitinari, M Canali, L Krumov, D Ruggeri, S Locatelli, G Licata (captain)  

Replacements: G Ribaldi, L Rizzoli, M Nocera, F Ruffolo, D Salvan, G Ferrari, L Adreani, G Milano, T Dominguez, R Jelic, S Brisighella, F Bozzoni, L Morisi, S Gregory, A Gesi 

Tries: Fusco, Batista, Ribaldi, Bozonni, Priscantelli 

Conversions: Montemauri (2), Priscantelli 

Glasgow Warriors: J McKay, L Trotter, D Munn, T Jordan, B Salmon, D Weir (captain), B Afshar; J Bhatti, A Fraser, P Schickerling, J Oguntibeju, A Samuel, E Ferrie, H Venter, J Mann 

Replacements: G Stewart, T Banatvala, C McFeat Smith, G Brown, R Burke, R Simpson, S Kennedy, A Caqusau, G Hiddleston, F Richardson, M Duncan, J Dobie, J Ventisei, K Johnston, F Watson