Finn Russell starred as champions Glasgow Warriors moved a step closer to confirming their Guinness PRO12 semi-final spot with a bonus-point win over Scarlets.

A Russell try-double got the visitors off to a fine start after Scarlets kicked an early penalty.

The returning Liam Williams kept Scarlets in touch but further tries from Lee Jones, who also scored twice, as well as Tommy Seymour, Mark Bennett and Henry Pyrgos meant Glasgow racked up seven in total.

The win means Glasgow, temporarily at least, rise to second in the Guinness PRO12 ahead of Connacht Rugby’s encounter with Munster.

Steve Shingler put the home side three points to the good after two minutes as Glasgow were penalised for not rolling away at the breakdown.

But Warriors hit back straight away as Russell scored a beautifully crafted try.

A short line out set up the position for him to chip over the Scarlets defence then collect and touch down in one motion, before kicking the extras.

Things got worse for Scarlets’ on 11 minutes with an injury to DTH van der Merwe, who went off with his arm in a makeshift sling and was replaced by Steffan Hughes.

Russell then extended the visitors’ lead with a routine penalty won as Scarlets tried to run their way out of trouble.

After 20 minutes he turned down another kick at goal but his angled kick set up a perfect lineout position.

He continued the Russell show by finished strongly in the corner, under pressure from Steffan Evans, but could not add the extras from the touchline.

Scarlets were back in it on the half hour mark though, Williams running the decisive angle to breeze past Sila Puafisi and touch down under the posts on his return to action – Shingler then added the extras.

The fightback did not last long though as Jones re-established the ten point lead on 37 minutes, finishing in the corner after Henry Pyrgos broke when Glasgow forced a turnover on the half-way line.

A bonus point was secured for Glasgow less than a minute into the second period, Pyrgos finishing a sublime team move in the corner as Russell’s expertly timed pass set him free in the right corner, the fly-half then continuing his dominance with the boot.

Warriors put the game beyond Scarlets reach just before the hour mark as a Pyrgos pass ricocheted off the home side’s defence and fell kindly for Mark Bennett to pick up and run a curved line to touch down under the posts with Russell kicking the extras.

Phil John came on for his 264th and final appearance for Scarlets with a little under 20 minutes to go but it made no difference.

The Glasgow dominance continued and a Russell interception in his own half set up the platform for Seymour to cross under the posts with 15 minutes to go with the fly-half kicking the conversion.

Russell almost completed his hat-trick with seven minutes to go but his mazy run was stopped ten metres short, only for Jones to pick up the recycled ball and cross the whitewash, Russell for once unable to kick the extras.

The loss loosened Scarlets’ grip on fourth place and a semi-final spot with just two rounds of action to go.

To buy tickets for the GUINNESS PRO12 Grand Final click here. Also follow us on Facebook, join the conversation on Twitter, sign up to our YouTube channel for extensive match highlights and sign up for our newsletter for regular updates on the GUINNESS PRO12.