Warriors lost Jack Dempsey and Adam Hastings to yellow cards – the fly-half was perhaps lucky that his shoulder-on-head hit on Andre-Hugo Venter wasn’t subsequently upgraded to a red – and also saw Kyle Rowe (concussion) and Euan Ferrie (shoulder) pick up injuries that will require subsequent medical examination.

The only good thing from Glasgow’s perspective as they prepare to fly home from South Africa is that, with no European semi-final to prepare for, they now have a fortnight to rest and recover for their two final regular season matches against Cardiff and Ulster.

“Stormers have top players in the environment and to come down here was always going to be tough,” said head coach Franco Smith. “I would lie if I would say we didn’t have had an eye on next week with a probable or possible European semi-final. I tried to stick a little bit to our guns. But this has happened and at the right time for us because I think you can’t hide from the fact that there is one or two things that need to be adjusted. I think we need cold and the rain for a bit. We haven’t seen that for a while. Sleep in our own beds and maybe see our wives and girlfriends.

“That will really be important. We are looking forward to getting back to Scotland. Again, the South African teams are good teams. You give them half a sniff, they take it away. It’s not just about us. I think we weren’t allowed to play the way we wanted to play in the last two weeks. Compliments to the South Africans then. And I will also remind myself and then everybody else that the log leaders have never won this competition. So, we never know.”

Having to travel south this late in the season was always a trip fraught with danger but one that Smith claimed he had been well aware of as the campaign unfolded.

“You would have noticed that we have planned the whole season to stay four points ahead of the pack when we knew that we would be travelling late in the year and with European fixtures that we tried to fulfil. And the Six Nations, if you have 23 players playing competitive rugby and Scotland had a chance to win it, the mental challenge that they have had with some disappointments, obviously that influences a lot. They are human after all.

“They can’t keep on getting blood from a rock. The South African tour is what it is. I am not going to make more of it. We were disappointing, we are disappointed and better to close that door as we get into the airplane.”

Warriors had started sluggishly against the Lions and never recovered and it was a similar story here. Ntuthuko Mchunu looked set to exit early on with a shoulder injury but the loosehead showed he was made of sterner stuff as he kept going and crossed for two early tries. Man-of-the-match Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu had already made an early penalty by the time Mchnunu got his first try following an audacious pass out the back door from fellow prop Neethling Fouche. His second came not long as he stretched for the line after the maul had splintered, with Dempsey shown a yellow card for trying to illegally halt it.

Glasgow finally woke up and, after a powerful Sione Tuipulotu carry, Hastings’ quick tap penalty and pass provided the opening for Ollie Smith who dexterously danced around four or five opponents before getting over the line.Stormers simply soaked it up and hit back with their third start. Cobus Reinach surged down the left flank before passing inside to Feinberg-Mngomezulu who helped it on for Evan Roos to cross under the posts.

Glasgow again showed some spirit late in the first half, taking advantage of Reinach being yellow-carded for playing the nine [Ben Afshar], with the maul driving over Gregor Hiddleston. That left them within touching distance at the turn-around but another Feinberg-Mngomezulu early in the second period gave Stormers fresh impetus. Warriors tried to narrow the gap after Afshar’s surge into the 22 had given them good field position but Stormers repelled their pick-and-go efforts then turned the ball over. Hastings, standing upright, then clattered into Venter and could have no complaints about the yellow card.

It was all Stormers after that and they scored three more tries to underline their superiority. Feinberg-Mngomezulu created their fourth with a moment of ingenuity, executing the perfect grubber kick to set up Ruhan Nel to score in the corner. The fly-half then crossed the line himself after being teed up by Imad Kahn before Keke Morabe was driven over for their sixth score from the maul.

Teams –              

Stormers:  D Willemse, W Simelane (M Muller 67), R Nel, D du Plessis, L Zas, S Feinberg-Mngomezulu, C Reinach (I Khan 59); N Mchunu (O Kebble 57), A-H Venter (JJ Kotze 46), N Fouche (Z Porthen 54), A Smith (M Theunissen 34-44), R van Heerden, P de Villiers (K Morabe 65), B-J Dixon (M Theunissen 54), E Roos

Glasgow Warriors: K Rowe (S McDowall 34), K Steyn, H Jones, S Tuipulotu, O Smith, A Hastings, B Afshar (J Oliver 65); P Schickerling (N McBeth 53), G Hiddleston (J Matthews 50), Z Fagerson (S Talakai 50), R Burke (J Oguntibeju 50), A Samuel, E Ferrie (D Cockburn 31), A Fraser, J Dempsey (S Vailanu 63)

Referee: Eoghan Cross (IRFU)

Scorers –

Stormers: Tries Mchunu 2, Roos, Nel, Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Morabe Cons Feinberg-Mngomezulu 6 Pens Feinberg-Mngomezulu 2

Glasgow Warriors: Tries Smith, Hiddleston Con Hastings

Scoring sequence (Stormers first): 3-0, 8-0, 10-0, 15-0, 17-0, 17-5, 22-5, 24-5, 24-10, 24-12, (h-t), 27-12, 32-12, 34-12, 39-12, 41-12, 46-12, 48-12

Yellow cards:

Jack Dempsey (Glasgow) – 14mins

Cobus Reinach (Stormers) – 36 mins

Adam Hastings (Glasgow) – 46 mins