Gregor Brown is one of 19 Warriors in the squad and the big Aberdonian thinks the physical intensity of Friday's encounter with the Bulls is good preparation for what lies ahead.
For Saturday's meeting with the USA Townsend will select home-based players only as the fixture falls outside the agreed international window.
Brown is expected to feature with the only question being whether it will be in the second or back row? He wore the No 6 jersey in the 21-12 win over the Bulls and has started in this position in three of Glasgow's first five URC games. However, last season saw him get a lot of game time in the second row for Warriors. He also started at lock for Scotland in the Six Nations decider against France in Paris, showing Franco Smith and Townsend are fan's of Brown's versatility.
"He's (Townsend) said that he likes the fact I can play both [positions]," said Brown in The Scotsman. "Last year was a huge learning curve for me, going into the second row at Test level. I took a lot of those learnings, especially around lineout time, from second row into the back row, but I feel comfortable in both positions.
"I probably have a little bit more in the legs to be a bit more explosive in the back row, but equally I love the aspects of carrying between the 15s that come with the second row. What most people would see as the grunt work, I enjoy that too. Then in the back row, if I get a bit more time on the edge, then it's also nice. I'm happy either way."
Brown was a late call-up by the British and Irish Lions in the summer, leaving Scotland's tour party in New Zealand to join Andy Farrell's squad in Australia and make an appearance off the bench against the First Nations & Pasifika XV.
Brown's progress has been rapid over the last couple of season - a URC win, first Scotland cap and Lions call - and he wants to keep it going.
"It was huge for me to start this season well, off the back of last season, when I probably achieved more than I thought I could," he said. "So to kind of keep the ball rolling, this autumn Test series was a huge goal of mine: to play well enough for Glasgow to get selected in the squad.
"I also wanted to give the confidence in areas of my game that I knew I needed to work on through playing more Test rugby last year. That was a great experience and the main thing was just taking some of those work-ons; things you can't get away with in Test rugby and try to implement them week in, week out with Glasgow."
Glasgow enjoyed four wins from five games in the first block of the URC. Friday was a hard-fought win over the team they beat in the 2024 final but who won at Scotstoun last season.
"From the first block of five games, this was the one that we were looking at as a must-win. We've obviously got a little bit of history with the Bulls, and against a team like them it's not going to be perfect all the way through.
"They're such a physical team but I thought we dealt with that well for the most part. Moving the ball around, we got a lot of joy out of that, and then after that sticky bit in the middle, it was really pleasing that we could go back to our maul. Some people might think it hasn't been functioning, but we won a penalty that pinned them down in the corner and then got the penalty try. That was really pleasing.
"Playing these South African teams, it's different to any other team in the league really, but it's really good to test yourself. Things that you get away with playing against other teams you can't really get away with against them. It's the perfect test, hopefully heading into Test match rugby.
"Carrying into them is a lot harder, then they challenge the breakdown really well. All these things are the main step up in international rugby, so to have this just before going off into camp was definitely huge."