GLASGOW Warriors soared to the top of their Champions Cup pool with a sensational win over Racing 92 last night, overpowering the French side with a display of breathtaking quality. Munster will go back on top of Pool One if they beat Leicester today, but the Warriors still have to play both teams - and on this form they will fear no-one.

Stand-off Finn Russell ran the show, totally overshadowing his opposite number, 2015 World Player of the Year Dan Carter. Ali Price also put in another excellent display before giving way to Henry Pyrgos for the last quarter, but above all this was simply a brilliant team performance.

Josh Strauss got the first try, Fraser Brown grabbed the second and Price got the third, with the other points coming from Russell’s boot. The Warriors were 18-0 up at half-time, and ended any lingering chance of a Racing fightback by scoring first after the break through that Price try.

The home team were as superb in defence as they were in attack, and three times in quick succession in the second half they denied the Frenchmen what had seemed to be certain scores. Tommy Seymour did the same thing at the end of the first, getting his body under that of Marc Andreu to prevent the winger from grounding in the left-hand corner.

After being forced to defend for the first few minutes, Glasgow drew first blood in sensational style. Russell chipped ahead, Seymour gathered, ran on and passed to Stuart Hogg, and then the full-back popped the ball up to Strauss as he was being grounded in the tackle. Strauss flopped over the line to celebrate his 100th appearance in style.

After quarter of an hour, Russell passed to Fraser Brown and the hooker burst through the first tackle then made an unstoppable charge to the line from the edge of the 22. A Russell penalty stretched the lead after half an hour, and the stand-off added another three points right on half-time.

Racing replaced both their props at the start of the second half, but the new front-row men did nothing to slow the one-way traffic, never mind change the direction. The Warriors began that half with all the attacking intent they had shown in the first, and they were rewarded eight minutes in with their third try of the game. A flurry of phases took the home team ever closer to the line, and scrum-half Ali Price finished off the move with an opportunistic strike.

That score ended the match as a contest, and long before the end Racing looked a sorry bunch, with the late try by Xavier Chauveau and conversion from Benjamin Dambielle being only a faint consolation. They have now played three and lost three, and have no more than a faint academic hope of qualifying for the quarter-final. The Warriors’ prospects are a lot brighter, and they must now hope to take this form into January, when the last two rounds of pool games are played.

Scorers: Glasgow: Tries: Strauss, Brown, Price. Con: Russell. Pens: Russell 2.

Racing: Try: Chauveau. Con: Dambielle.

Glasgow Warriors: S Hogg; T Seymour, A Dunbar, S Johnson (M Bennett 64), L Jones; F Russell, A Price (H Pyrgos 57); G Reid (A Allan 70), F Brown, Z Fagerson (S Puafisi 64), T Swinson, J Gray, R Harley, R Wilson, J Strauss (C Fusaro 70). Unused substitutes: C Flynn, B Alainu’uese, S Lamont.

Racing 92: B Dulin; T Thomas, C Laulala, A Tuitavake (J Rokocoko 17), M Andreu; D Carter (B Dambielle 61), M Machenaud (X Chauveau 61); V Afatia (E Ben Arous 41), C Chat (D Szarzewski 53), B Tameifuna (C Gomes Sa 41), G Grobler, F van der Merwe (T Dubarry 53), W Lauret (A Claassen 72), C Masoe, L Nakarawa.

Referee: G Clancy (Ireland). Attendance: 7351.