Franco Smith is looking for players who can make the step up when Glasgow's internationals are away

Alessandro Fusco, Albert Batista, Giampietro Ribaldi, Giovanni Licata and Felipe Bozonni went over for Zebre's tries. Giovanni Montemauri (2) and Geronimo Priscantelli kicked the other points in a good all-round performance from the hosts.

Glasgow struggled at scrum and lineout while poor handling and wayward passing gave them little opportunity to build continuity and momentum. In fact, three of Zebre's tries came from Glasgow mistakes.

Jare Oguntibeju, Jack Mann, Ryan Burke and Macenzzie Duncan showed up well in the forwards while Richie Simpson, Duncan Munn and Amena Caqusau had their moments in what was a disappointing display from Warriors.

Speaking after the match, Franco Smith said: "If you look at the scoreboard, both sides of the ball wasn't good enough, but that wasn't our main objective. We had our second and third string players who need to step up. I said two years ago we need a quality squad to have a great team, and we're going to have to lean even more on these young boys

"The objective for us in this first part of the season is to work with the players who who need to make a step up when our internationals are going to be away.

"Yes, they made a lot of errors. It was different conditions, but we agreed that we're not going to use any excuses. We're just going to look at the experience gained."

Warriors will now turn their attention to next week's Famous Grouse Pre-Season Friendly against Connacht knowing there is plenty work to be done before the real stuff starts.