Glasgow Warriors battled their way to a hard-earned 14-6 win over Zebre Parma on Friday night, a result that guarantees them a home quarter-final in the BKT United Rugby Championship.
Tries from Josh McKay — who was later named Player of the Match — and Stafford McDowall in the second half made the difference, while a resilient defensive performance kept the Italians at bay throughout a bruising encounter.
In warm, still conditions ideal for rugby, it was the hosts who struck first. Fly-half Giacomo da Re slotted a straightforward penalty after eight minutes to hand Zebre an early 3-0 lead.
The opening stages were evenly matched, with both sides struggling to break through defensively. Glasgow nearly unlocked the game midway through the first half, when Jamie Dobie’s sharp break from deep nearly set up Kyle Steyn, but Zebre scrambled well to shut down the opportunity.
The home fans were almost celebrating moments later, when Fetulia Paea’s break and clever offload sent Simone Gesi charging into Glasgow territory. However, a golden chance went begging as Giovanni Licata fumbled the ball at the try line just as he looked set to score.
Zebre came agonisingly close again on 27 minutes, but Jare Oguntibeju produced a brilliant cover tackle to stop Scott Gregory just short. Instead, the Italians settled for another three points from the boot of da Re, stretching their lead to 6-0 just before the half-hour.
Despite hammering away at the Zebre defence in the closing stages of the half, Glasgow couldn’t find a way through and trailed by six at the break.
They came out firing after the restart — and made it count almost immediately. With Matteo Canali in the sin bin for head-on-head contact with Sebastian Cancelliere, Glasgow capitalised on the extra space. Dobie flung a wide ball out to McKay, who raced in at full tilt to touch down in the corner. Tom Jordan nailed the tricky conversion to edge Glasgow ahead for the first time.
Just minutes later, they struck again. Steyn punched through the line to set the platform, before Sam Talakai bulldozed the defence to get Glasgow on the front foot. With Zebre scrambling, McDowall powered over under the sticks and Jordan converted with ease, pushing the lead to 14-6.
Zebre, backed by a passionate home crowd, refused to roll over and launched a series of late attacks. But Glasgow’s defence stood tall, with standout efforts from Alex Samuel, Max Williamson and Euan Ferrie halting the Italians time and again.
A final stand on their own line sealed the result for Franco Smith’s men — and with it, home advantage in the quarter-finals.
Next up: a blockbuster regular-season finale under the Scotstoun lights, as the Warriors welcome the Vodacom Bulls for a Grand Final rematch on Friday night.
