Ruwald van der Merwe says he and his new family are loving life in Scotland and feels Glasgow Warriors are the ideal club to take his game "to the next level".

After making the move from the Airlink Pumas to become the first new Scotsoun arrival in the summer, the big South African forward - who says he's happy to play anywhere across the back row - is relishing the learning curve.

"Coming here, it's quite evident from the first few training sessions that there's a lot of space for improvement," said Van der Merwe.

"So I've been learning a lot, especially skill wise. In South Africa we play a much more physical brand of rugby, whereas here my experience has been it's not maybe as physical but the skills are much better and the pace of the game is also quite quick so that's something I have to adapt to.

"The coaching and the players have all been great leading up to my debut in just developing small areas of my game."

As well as building his game, Van der Merwe has just started a family, which meant there was someone extra with him and his wife when they made the move to Glasgow.

"We've got a 10-month-old daughter so moving across with a small baby is obviously a big decision," he explained.

"I did speak to Henco Venter and Nathan McBeth as well. They're in sort of similar situations. So yeah, they just motivated me to do it. She's still small. So yeah, she's actually adapting really well in Scotland. I think she likes the cold weather.

"There's a lot of small kids at the club. So yeah, it's been good. And all the girls have also been really welcoming to my wife."

Having just made his debut in the bonus-point win at Sale in the Champions Cup, Van der Merwe was given an early indication of the standards expected at his new club and the pressure to deliver.

"The standard of the club is really high," he said. "It's quite evident that this is the next level. Standards are high, obviously more pressure on games and you're expected to perform on the next level.

"So I think the players at this club make it so easy because they lift you up with them. I just think of playing next to someone like Sione Tuipulotu this weekend. He's so experienced and helped me on the field. Rory Darge as well and Scott Cummings.

"The boys have been great helping me adapt to this next level."