A DEVASTATING first half combined with Munster losing to the Scarlets in Wales has left Glasgow Warriors in control of their own fate in the Guinness PRO14 as they try to battle through to the final in their home city in May.

With four games to go, Glasgow have opened up a three-point lead in Conference A but know they have work to do. They may have overtaken Munster but the Irish have an easier run-in with only their away game at Benetton Treviso looking a major obstacle while Glasgow still have to go to Leinster and host both Ulster and Edinburgh, two dangerous opponents.

So, no counting of chickens for Dave Rennie, the head coach, after seeing his side romp through the first half before concentration levels dipped and replacements disrupted the smooth running of the team.

"The game was gone by half-time but we were really disappointed with the second half," he reflected later. "We were too loose and lacked discipline at key times. We turned over a lot of ball.

"I felt we thought the job was done and we would be able to run over the top of them. You’ve got to keep working hard for each other.

"We’ve done well through this period, picking up 19 points [out of a possible 20]. Obviously that [Munster's 10-6 defeat in Llanelli] is a great result from our perspective and puts us back in control. It’s a nice way to finish off this little block."

What encouraged Rennie was that a lot of the best bits came from players who need big games to push for places in the knockout games that are coming up. Stafford MacDowall, the centre, scored off a training ground line out move, Robbie Nairn looked dangerous with the ball and all the forwards contributed to their dominance up front with Matt Fagerson getting man of the match and his brother Zander bossing the scrums from tighthead prop.

The only downside was George Turner, who was unused emergency cover for Scotland in France last week, who got a bang on the head serious enough that they didn't even bother giving him a head injury assessment but just took him off and kept him off. With seven days to the Wales Test, he has not been ruled out but it would take only one setback to see him sidelined.

"I think we’ve coped pretty well during the [Six Nations] period," Rennie added. "We always want to create good depth and competition for places. Even though we’ve been missing a lot of guys, we’ve still had a lot of experience on the field. That helps a lot of the younger guys slot in.

"We’ve still felt pretty confident despite the guys being away. But we’ve also gone into the games knowing we’ve had to play well to win. It’s an important period. You’ve still got to be able of finding a way to win even when so many guys are missing."

This was a classic case in point. They raced in five tries in the opening half, including Ruaridh Jackson going over for the bonus point fourth try on his 150th game for the club – "He’s a very experienced player and really good from a leadership point of view. It was nice that we could celebrate that with a five-pointer and also nice that he got a try himself," Rennie reflected.

They then sleepwalked through the second half, drawing it with one try apiece despite playing 25 minutes against 14 men with Carlo Canna, the Zebre fly half, getting two yellow cards.