Glasgow Warriors 22-19 Zebre

Glasgow held off a spirited challenge from new boys Zebre to scrape a narrow 22-19 victory at Scotstoun.

The visitors began brightly and raced into a 13-0 lead as Luciano Orquera and Gonzalo Garcia both slotted over early penalties and the fly-half Orquera strolled over untouched under the posts for the game's opening try after a great run from Leonardo Sarto. The hosts got back into the match midway through the first half though, when Ruaridh Jackson's up and under wasn't dealt with and lock Tim Swinson got to the ball first to touch it down in the in-goal area after it had been hacked ahead. Orquera did add another penalty for Zebre but the Italians didn't help themselves by having both flankers, Filippo Cristiano and Mauro Bergamasco, sinbinned in quick succession. And Glasgow took full advantage as a good drive in the scrum allowed DTH van der Merwe to go over in the left-hand corner and the South African winger then set up Graeme Morrison to score in the same corner and give the home side a 19-16 lead at the break. Orquera levelled things up with another three points early in the second half as the visitors went in search of their first ever win but the Warriors were desperate not to become their inaugural scalp and the game turned into a tense affair. Jackson missed the chance to edge the hosts in front just after the hour mark but replacement Pete Horne was more successful with a little under ten minutes left on the clock. Zebre battled hard in response but full-back Daniel Halangahu badly shanked their final attempt at goal with a few minutes remaining and Glasgow held on to record a hard-fought win and leave their opponents still winless at the foot of the table.