Weir showed he had lost none of his accuracy off the tee with a brace of conversions but the highlight was still to come when Jamie Dobie ghosted down the line before finding Weir who crossed for Glasgow’s sixth try of the night. The way his team-mates rushed over to greet the try-scorer spoke volumes of the esteem that the 34-year-old is held in as he prepares to move from the changing room to an academy coaching role.

“I’m proud of him,” said Smith. “I’m proud of the way he’s finished. I’m proud of everything that he’s contributed. He’s never scored a try since I’ve been a coach, to be honest. I was really proud to see him score that, for him. He’s such a contributor. We’ve got a philosophy – you’ve got to give to get. He embodies that saying.

“I’m so glad for him that he ended up scoring a try and kicked a couple of conversions. I thought Scotstoun came alive when he came on. The energy flew through to the team. He ended up dislocating his finger and pulled his hamstring too, so it was the complete evening. Man of the match too, unbelievable.”

Weir’s farewell was the biggest talking point on a night when scrum-half Jack Oliver made a brief debut late off the bench and the team scored seven tries. Smith, though, admitted the scoreline flattered his team as Zebre gave as good as they got for the best part of the opening hour.

“I’m always grateful for a win, so I can’t say not. I think it’s good that we finished strong. I always compliment the opposition sides when they play well. It’s not always our mistakes or how well we play. It’s how we’re allowed to play. Zebre are proving that their squad depth is getting better. I just spoke to their coaching group there now and they are very proud of the effort. The scoreline doesn’t make it look like we won comfortably, but it was quite a battle out there.”

Warriors spent much of the opening exchanges in their own 22 before breaking clear to score twice in the first 20 minutes. The first went to captain for the night Stafford McDowall after a well-rehearsed line-out move saw him sent away by Ben Afshar, while Ollie Smith’s weaving run saw him cross for the second.

Zebre, though, hit back immediately, showing they wouldn’t go down quietly when Martin Farias spotted a gap and burst through before passing to Giulio Bertaccini who grounded. Glasgow hit back with a third try just before half-time when the maul drove over Seb Stephen, with Zebre No. 8 Davide Ruggeri sent to the bin for trying to illegally halt it.

That seemed to leave the Italians up against it as the second period got underway but instead a second try – when substitute hooker Giovanni Quattrini burrowed over – gave Glasgow something else to think about. On came Weir as Glasgow looked to make sure of the victory and the ever-impressive Dobie did just that, racing onto Duncan Munn’s smart kick to dot down and claim the bonus point.

Afshar was denied a try for a foot in touch before making way for Oliver to make his debut but a fifth score wasn’t far away and it came from Hiddleston who rumbled over. It was Weir’s try, put away by Dobie, that got the biggest cheer of the night before Dobie rounded off an emphatic win by fastening onto McDowall’s pass to score.

Teams –

Glasgow Warriors: O Smith (D Lancaster 62), D Munn, S McDowall, K Yule, J Dobie, A Hastings (D Weir 54), B Afshar (J Oliver 71); P Schickerling (R Sutherland 54), S Stephen (G Hiddleston 54), F Richardson (S Talakai 54), J Oguntibeju (A Miller 54), M Williamson, E Ferrie, R Darge, M Duncan (A Craig 69)

Zebre: L Pani, M Belloni, G Bertaccini, E Lucchin (L Morisi 63), A Batista, M Farias (G Montemauri 67), T Dominguez (M Prinsloo 61); P Buonfiglio (L Franceschett 44), S Klein (G Quattrini 47), E Pieretto (M Nocera 37), M Canali, F Carrera, G Volpi (G Milano 67), I Bianchi, D Ruggeri (D Odiase 61)

Referee: Ben Breakspear (WRU)

Scorers –

Glasgow: Tries: S McDowall, O Smith, S Stephen, J Dobie 2, G Hiddleston, D Weir Cons: A Hastings 2, D Weir 3, D Lancaster

 Zebre: Tries: G Bertaccini, G Quattrini

Scoring sequence (Glasgow first): 5-0, 7-0, 12-0, 14-0, 14-5, 19-5, (h-t), 19-10, 24-10, 26-10, 31-10, 33-10, 38-10, 40-10, 45-10, 47-10 

Yellow card:

D Ruggeri (Zebre) – 40 mins