VAN DER MERWE BACK WITH A BANG IN ITALIAN JOB

RETURNING winger DTH van der Merwe was man of the match as Glasgow Warriors ran in ten tries to hammer a poor Zebre outfit last night in a one-sided Guinness Pro14 clash. Canadian Van der Merwe, the club’s record try scorer who re-signed last week, marked the start of his second stint at Scotstoun with two tries. Full-back Ruaridh Jackson also bagged a brace on his final appearance before he departs for the Commonwealth Games and Sevens duty with Scotland. Although there will be far tougher tests to come, Warriors head coach Dave Rennie will have been pleased with some of his side’s attacking play. Warriors took the lead in the eighth minute. Stand-off Adam Hastings saw the space out wide and his long, looping pass found Van der Merwe who went over. Hastings converted that one and, four minutes later, Jackson went in for the Warriors’ second try to double the lead to 14-0. The third try came in the 24th minute. Zebre threw a loose pass in their own 22 and as winger Lee Jones kicked the ball on he looked set to score. Zebre stand-off Carlo Canna pushed him off the ball and, after some consulting his touch judge, referee Craig Evans awarded a penalty try. To rub salt in Zebre’s wounds, he also sin-binned Canna and it began to look like a long night for the visitors. Indeed, the bonus-point try came for the hosts in the 28th minute and it was that man Van der Merwe (below) again. He cut a great line and went in under the posts, Hastings converting to make it 28-0. It was 35-0 in the 33rd minute, Henry Pyrgos taking a pass from Hastings to go over for the converted effort. Try No6, from Jackson, came just before the interval and, at 40-0, the Warriors had as many points as minutes played.Jones then got a try of his own before Canna’s converted effort reduced arrears for the beleaguered visitors. Forwards Zander Fagerson and Callum Gibbins, the skipper, then got in on the act and, as the game entered the final quarter, it was 61-7. Warriors went over the whitewash for a tenth time with 14 minutes to go through replacement Lelia Masaga — the former All Black’s first for the club — and Hastings’ eighth conversion of the night made it 68-7 to give the home fans plenty of bang for their buck.