Two tries from winger Tommy Seymour were the highlight as Glasgow Warriors returned to the top of the GUINNESS PRO12 table with a 40-23 victory over Benetton Treviso in Italy.

Seymour’s double and Tyrone Holmes’ score were the perfect response to Michele Campagnaro’s early try for the home side but Glasgow only led 19-16 at half-time.

The visitors ran rampant in the second half however, as James Eddie, DTH van der Merwe and Sean Lamont all crossed for scores, although Campagnaro also went over for the second time.

The Scottish side have now won five games out of five but their hosts remain winless in the same period.
Glasgow lock Tom Ryder made his first start since February as coach Gregor Townsend shuffled his pack – making nine changes to the XV that started against Connacht last weekend.

And the home side took advantage of those changes almost instantly – flying out of the blocks with fly-half Joe Carlisle slotting an early penalty to give them a 3-0 lead.

That advantage was extended after eight minutes as Treviso worked the ball out wide, allowing Campagnaro to touch down.

Carlisle duly added the extras but Seymour narrowed the deficit just five minutes later – finishing off a well-worked Glasgow move by going over in the corner.

Although Duncan Weir was unable to land the tricky conversion, the Warriors were starting to pile the pressure on their hosts and found themselves ahead soon after.

A catch-and-drive from an attacking lineout ended with flanker Holmes driving over and this time Weir made no mistake with the conversion.

Treviso looked set to retake the lead after forcing their way deep inside the visitors’ 22 but the Scots’ defensive line held strong and forced the turnover.

Seymour seized on the loose ball on the edge of his own 22 and ran the length of the pitch to dot down for his second score before Weir’s successful conversion made it 19-10 with just under 15 minutes of the first half remaining.

To the Italians’ credit, they steadied the ship following Glasgow’s 14-minute salvo and two more Carlisle penalties ensured they were just three points behind going into half-time.

The Warriors had a sustained spell of pressure to begin the second period and wrapped up the bonus point eight minutes in.

After knocking on the door, the visitors finally broke it down – scrum-half Nikola Matawalu feeding Eddie, who barrelled his way through a number of defenders for the score.

Weir added the conversion and, despite already having four tries on the board, Glasgow continued to press.
Van der Merwe broke clear and outran Carlisle to notch try number five on 58 minutes before Lamont compounded Treviso’s misery just a minute later.

Matawalu made a clever break off the back of a ruck and chipped over the onrushing defender. It looked as if the Fijian was going to collect his own kick but Lamont gathered ahead of him to touch down.

Campagnaro then slipped James Downey’s tackle for his, and Treviso’s, second try of the game but it was little more than consolation as the Italians are still looking for their first point of the GUINNESS PRO12 season.

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