"The Heineken Cup just gets bigger every year," said the Glasgow wing, who scored a club record 252 points and 17 tries for Wasps in 24 Heineken Cup matches.
"Before it was a case of having one or two tough games but now every single one is hard – especially when you look at the Pool we are in.
"Northampton Saints are very strong while Toulouse are a fantastic side who love to play rugby. Llanelli Scarlets are not doing that well in the Celtic League but they have got a great record and you just know that they will step up when it comes to the Heineken Cup.
"These teams know what the Heineken Cup is all about and know how to play in this competition. They turn it on at exactly the right time.
"When you look at Munster, they often have a slow start to the season but then just wait and see when the Heineken Cup starts - they are almost a different team. You simply cannot look at domestic form as any sort of guide as to who will do well or who will not do well.
"Experience is the big difference between those sides and ourselves. We have not got a lot of European experience within the squad because we have a lot of youngsters in the team and I feel pretty old in the changing room with them all.
"But we all know that we have got to try and step up because we realise how hard it is going to be for us. The other teams in our Pool will undoubtedly be looking at us as the game they know they must win and the away victory that is so important for qualification.
"So we have got to make Hughenden an intimidating place to come and play. It's a good ground because the crowd is boxed in close to the pitch so it's not like the big football stadiums that many of the English clubs play at where the fans are a bit further from the action."
From ercrugby.com