Huw Jones believes Glasgow Warriors laid down a marker for their URC rivals with their excellent 28-17 win over the Stormers on Saturday.
The reigning champions were outstanding in the second half as they secured a bonus point after tries from Johnny Matthews, Sione Tuipulotu, Kyle Rowe and Henco Venter.
Glasgow returned to Scotland with seven points from their two games in South Africa, which is an excellent achievement.
The Warriors are nicely placed in second in the URC table heading into break for the Autumn Nations Series and Jones insists Glasgow displayed their credentials.
“To be successful in this competition you've got to win away and that includes coming down here,” Jones admitted.
"Whether it's at altitude or whether it's just hot weather, you've got to take that in your stride and these are really important points to be picking up on the road. Hopefully, it should lead to us being in a good position at the end of the season.
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“It was pretty hot out there. We probably were a bit loose at times, offloading the ball, just trying to push that final pass a bit too much.
"We paid the price for it in running metres and having to track back off their line breaks with their kicks. It was a pretty tiring first half but we managed the second half a lot better and managed to sort of conserve a bit of energy there.”
Jones was one of Glasgow’s star performers in Stellenbosch but his centre partner Tuipulotu grabbed the headlines with another vintage display.
The 27-year-old showcased why he was named the new Scotland captain earlier in the week and Jones is delighted for his team-mate.
“I'm really happy for him,” Jones added.
“He totally deserves it. He's a natural leader both on and off the field - he's a natural leader. He's always sort of in the middle of the group making jokes, he's the loudest one in the room, but then when it comes to game time he leads from the front with actions as well.
"He's fantastic in the way he plays but also the way he leads the group as well. He's the perfect guy to be captain.”
On his own performances, Jones added: “There's always room for improvement, but with a guy like Sione there, when he's on the ball you've just got to make yourself the best option possible.
"I've got a couple of line breaks today off him and I think we've got a good relationship. We see the game and read the game well together and we've got a good combination. So, yeah, hopefully we can continue that with the Scotland team as well.”
Jones faces a quick turnaround after jetting back from South Africa as he links up with Scotland on Monday alongside 18 of his Warriors teammates.
The 30-year-old is favourite to start alongside Tuipulotu against Fiji but he’ll soon be facing increased competition from his captain’s younger brother Mosese.
“It's a very competitive position and it's obviously a big squad,” Jones added.
"There's a lot of guys who will be looking to step up in training and I've just got to do all that's in my control to be the best I can be.
“Recovery is obviously going to be key ahead of Scotland duty. We're straight into it Monday morning, so I think we'll get through the ice baths today and then try our best to recover and get the body moving again on Monday.”
After facing Fiji, Scotland welcome the Springboks to Scottish Gas Murrayield as Gregor Townsend’s men take on the reigning world champions.
Glasgow have spent two successful weeks in South Africa and they’ve played against the majority of the Springboks squad in their games against the Sharks and the Stormers.
Jones missed out on the Sharks clash but he knows that Townsend will have a plan for Scotland when facing the Springboks.
He added: "I didn't play the Sharks game so I wasn't out there experiencing those Springbok players.
"I know quite a lot of those players fairly well and having played against the Springboks a couple of times, I think we all kind of know what to expect and that we've got a bit of preparation.
“We've obviously got a game against Fiji first but I'm sure the Scotland coach has got it in hand and they would have been trawling through all the video footage. So, they'll have a plan. We've just got to go and execute it."
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