Davies will next week finalise his 28-man squad to tackle world champions South Africa but places are still up for grabs heading into the opening weekend of European action.

Davies, who is in charge for the one-off match against a strong Springboks side on November 24, is determined to pick players on form not reputation.

The Newport-Gwent Dragons open their campaign away at Perpignan, the Llanelli Scarlets travel to Clermont Auvergne, the Ospreys entertain Bourgoin while Cardiff host Bristol.

And Davies will be watching closely. "We are getting closer to knowing the squad and team we will select to face the Springboks," he said.

"But we are also very much keeping an open mind and a lot will depend on the rugby we will be watching over the next two weeks.

"The standards and intensity of competition go up a level this weekend. All the players and the coaches know it and they will have targeted each of their games to get off to a winning start and there is no reason why they can't do it.

"The Heineken Cup is the holy grail for all of the teams who take part and that means from a Wales team perspective that we have the chance to assess players under the unique environment of intense competition.

"There's no substitute for it. Watching a player at this level is the only way you can properly assess form and decide whether that form can transfer to the international stage.

"We will be watching all Welsh qualified players this weekend. Some we know plenty about already and others we will be watching for new things, but every player should know we will only select them if they are on peak form."