The South African debutants thrashed Racing 92 51-28 in the Round of 16 to set up a trip to Scotstoun Stadium and handed Glasgow a 35-24 defeat in the BKT United Rugby Championship (URC) in February.

Smith believes that result in Johannesburg gives an in-form Emirates Lions side the edge heading into this weekend’s quarter-final and called on his team to rectify the mistakes made in that contest.

“Did they beat us or did we lose?” he asked in an interview with the Scotsman. “We lost that one I think, but that will be of benefit this week.

“We are facing a team that got the better of us last time out, so they are definitely the favourites by a long shot.

“Our standards are not measured against what we face. We set our own standards and we need to make a step up in what we’ve been doing.

“The Lions scored 50 points against Racing and I think they’ve won four or five games in a row now, so it will be a very good clash.”

Emirates Lions CEO Rudolf Straeuli labelled Smith “a coach who makes you think” as he implored his side to add another strong performance to their string of impressive displays recently.

“Last time we played them, we saw that there were a lot of special plays – wraps around the lineouts; small little initiatives; bringing in the winger; playing back to the hooker; playing back to their strong wingers,” the former Sprinkbok said. “He will come with special plays.

“I think the team must just go the way they have been playing lately. If you look at the last game against Racing 92, we gave a very decent performance with 14 men. The team has shown character.

“It is not going to be easy against Glasgow, but we have played them before. We know what to expect.

“They might have one or two internationals extra that we haven’t played against, but that shouldn’t be a motivation for us.”

Straeuli maintains that “there is a slight chance” Emirates Lions could still finish inside the URC top eight this season, though their main focus is on the Glasgow quarter-final and, potentially, EPCR Challenge Cup glory, which would be an alternative way for them to earn a place in the Heineken Champions Cup.

“The main prize is to get into the semi-final of this EPCR Challenge Cup,” he said. “There are permutations, but we just have to play the style of rugby that we are playing at the moment. Don’t worry about the permutations.

“What will be will be. We are a good enough team to be in the top eight [in the URC] and we might reach the [Heineken Champions] Cup by winning the Challenge Cup. We can still do that.”

Emirates Lions scrum-half Sanele Nohamba, who racked up 18 points against Racing in the Round of 16, also reiterated Glasgow’s quality and the small margin for error in knockout rugby.

“They are a quality side and they have shown that in the last couple of weeks. They have good ballers, and they like to throw the ball around,” he told South African media. “They are exciting. We need to front-up physically and expect anything.

“They have a balanced kicking game and running game. We should expect anything and just work hard for each other.”

Emirates Lions are favourites to reach the EPCR Challenge Cup semi-finals when they visit Glasgow Warriors this Saturday, according to the Scottish region’s head coach, Franco Smith.