Anthony Sullivan races away for his second try

With only 40 minutes of rugby union experience - as a replacement against Llanelli last weekend - Harris can be forgiven for some occasional wrong options and a few misdirected kicks.

Harris later played down his achievement, claiming: "It was nice to get a hat-trick of tries, but I've got an awful lot to learn and I am still learning."

Any errors were massively outweighed by the 25-year-old's brilliance with ball in hand. His passes, long and accurate off either hand, meant Cardiff's wingers saw more action than they had for many moons.

Harris' elusive running bemused the Glasgow defence to bring him three superb solo tries, all touched down beneath the posts.

To cap it all, his silver boots slotted over six kicks out of seven to confirm his status as the new idol of the Arms Park.

Iestyn Harris scores his first try in rugby union

Even fellow rugby league Arms Park arrival Anthony Sullivan, who also crossed for a hat-trick of tries, had to take second place to the young phenomenon who inevitably took the man of the match award.

Harris created a try for wing Sullivan by executing a pin-point cross-kick that Sullivan caught to score wide out and complete his own hat-trick of tries.

Glasgow's only score, a try by Glenn Metcalfe converted by Tommy Hayes, came when Cardiff were a man short, with replacement Greg Kacala in the sin bin.

The Scots did not play badly, it was merely their misfortune to play the supporting cast when a new star took the stage.

Cardiff: Tries: Sullivan 3, Harris 3. Cons: Harris 5. Pens: Harris 2.

Glasgow: Try: Metcalfe. Con: Hayes.

Att: 9,300

Cardiff: R Williams; A Henry, J Robinson, P Muller, A Sullivan; I Harris, R Howley; S John, J Humphreys, D Young (capt), C Quinnell, J Tait, S Sititi, R Appleyard, E Lewis.
Reps: P Rogers, G Woods, G Kacala, F Mounier, A Booth, M Allen, N Robinson.

Glasgow: G Metcalfe; A Bulloch, J Stuart, A Henderson, R Reid; T Hayes, A Nicol (capt); D Hilton, G Bulloch, G McIlwham, N Ross, A Hall, J White, G Flockhart, J Petrie.
Reps: G Scott, B Prescott, S Griffiths, G Beveridge, B Irving, G Kiddie, R Kerr.

Referee: Chris White (England).