Former Scotland coach Jim Telfer believes this weekend's Heineken Cup fixtures between the Dragons and Glasgow and Edinburgh and Ulster are must-win affairs for the Scottish sides.
Edinburgh were comfortably beaten by Stade Francais in Paris last week, while Glasgow lost a nail-biting encounter at home to Biarritz.
And those results have left Telfer, who remains one of the most respected figures in the Scottish game, in no doubt as to the importance of the round two games against familiar Magners League opposition.
"All is not lost," Telfer, who coached the British & Irish Lions in 1983 and 1997, told STV.
"Away wins are a rarity so Edinburgh have a great opportunity this weekend, at home, to "get back on the horse" and put a marker down for the rest of the campaign. Both Ulster and Bath are pretty average sides so a win against the former on Saturday is a must.
"The same goes for Glasgow. They are in the weakest group - along with Dragons and Gloucester - and must win in Newport on Friday night if they want to finish at least second, which might be enough to qualify for the latter stages of the Amlin Challenge Cup."
But while Telfer believes there is a similar amount of pressure on the two sides ahead of their respective matches, he has differing opinions on the quality of their performances during the first weekend of European rugby.
The 69-year-old ex-international may have been critical of Glasgow's approach in the 22-18 defeat by Biarritz but he felt they did enough to take the spoils against the French giants.
When it comes to assessing Edinburgh's efforts, Telfer was particularly disappointed by the manner in which Rob Moffat's men capitulated so early in their trip to the French capital, conceding four tries inside half an hour.
"When on song, French teams always play at pace and the Edinburgh defence was completely unprepared to deal with the home team's speed of attack," added Telfer.
"Edinburgh were given a painful European Cup reality check. For the second week on the trot, their game was effectively over by half-time and they spent the second half trying to save face.
"Two weeks ago they were sitting on top of the Magners League - so what has gone wrong? To me, it seemed that their problem was a lack of hardness, both physically and mentally, throughout the team.
"A flu ravaged Glasgow can be proud of their display on Saturday against Biarritz, and wonder what they have to do to win a match at this level. Shorn of Chris Cusiter and Graeme Morrison through illness, they dominated possession and territory but could not convert their superiority into enough points to win.
"However, the lead up to the try highlighted Glasgow's problems at the set piece, especially in the lineout. At one point late in the game the statistics showed that they had lost as many throw-ins as they had won, 7-7, criminal against a team of Biarritz's ability."
