He and his team-mates may come from the land of the grizzly but the Canadian who knows Scottish rugby best is well aware of the dangers presented by the local wildlife they can expect to confront in the frozen north tomorrow.

He and his team-mates may come from the land of the grizzly but the Canadian who knows Scottish rugby best is well aware of the dangers presented by the local wildlife they can expect to confront in the frozen north tomorrow.

Kevin Tkachuk started his Glasgow Warriors career at around the same time as the man with whom he goes head-to-head at Pitoddrie and while he is looking forward to the challenge he knows that seeking to tame Euan Murray is a fearsome proposition.

"I expect Euan to be a bit of a bear this weekend," said Tkachuk. "We are good mates, we used to be really close at Glasgow together so I am really looking forward to the challenge. He has really come on as a tighthead, he has always done great things defensively on the field and has improved his scrummaging and become one of the best in Britain.

"I think he was there at Glasgow a year before me but he was still studying and to all intents and purposes we got our starts together under Hugh Campbell. We both learned a lot from Hugh, which I hope I can put to good use this weekend."

The 32-year-old prop is very much the old pro in this touring side as their only player operating at the highest level in Europe, so is well placed to see what his rugby nation is up against in broader terms too.

"It is not easy for Canada, the era of professionalism has left us a bit behind," he noted.

"It is one thing to say we have been left behind and forget about it, but because we have been left behind we need to work harder at it all. Last week, against Wales, we were a stone a man lighter in every position so we need to get bigger, we need to get stronger and we need to get more physical in every area. We need more games, more scrums together."

That only makes tours like this one, where they have met all three Celtic countries on successive weekends, all the more vital.

"You can see in any facet of the game the progression we have had over the last few weeks," he said. "That just shows what can happen when we get regular competition."