Despite a 43-28 loss to Northampton Saints, the former Wales assistant coach believes the region - which he was parachuted in to run last week, over the head of coach Dwayne Peel - showed what he stated should become their new benchmark.
Europe may be over for the west Wales region, but their loss at Franklin’s Gardens was anything but a meek farewell.
Against last season’s Investec Champions Cup runners-up, the Scarlets pushed the English Premiership leaders hard, leading twice in the first half and reducing the gap to just five points late on.
Davies said: “I was proud of that performance and delighted by how we took the challenge on.
“I have told the players that they have set their standards this whole week with how they have applied themselves mentally and physically.”
Nigel Davies. Pic: Scarlets
The result meant the Scarlets have been eliminated from the Champions Cup after four straight defeats and they have also missed out on dropping into the second tier Challenge Cup.
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In the second tier European Challenge Cup tournament, all three Welsh sides are through to the last 16, but they all face away ties after both Cardiff and the Ospreys lost at the weekend.
Cardiff must go to Italy to take on Benetton, the Dragons will be in France at Stade Francais, whilst the Ospreys goes to Ulster.
In the top tier tournament, Davies pointed to key moments that separated the sides at Northampton, adding : “If you ask me the difference between the two teams, it would have been the scrum.
“There were a lot of scrum penalties against us, off our ball and their ball and also a couple of kicks that didn’t make touch. There were a lot of launch opportunities that we missed out on there and that was the game.”
Despite that, Davies felt the physical battle had been met head on.
“Physically, I thought we manned up, the boys did everything asked of them. What we need to do is get up to those levels of performance every week, they have set the standard – they need to maintain that now. Hopefully we can do that moving forward.”
Davies also stressed that the performance reflected early progress under his leadership.
“Coming in, I haven’t done a huge amount. We have simplified things and we have looked at our DNA as a team.
"We are not there yet, but there are elements of that performance that will stand us in good stead.”
Expanding on that identity, he added: “We stress teams the most when we keep the ball alive and have quick movement in our game. For that to happen, partnerships are really important and I saw a lot of positive things in our midfield partnership for example.
“I saw a lot of things there that I liked.
“I thought Eddie James had one of his best games for us. He is a real talent, a real athlete. He and Joe (Hawkins) worked well and I thought we have X-factor players when we move the ball.
“Someone like Jac Davies, who is one of the young players in this group who has a real spark, had a fantastic game.”
Davies also highlighted the importance of backing youth.
“We also have someone like 18-year-old Carwyn Leggatt-Jones, who we took out of school to train with us this week.
“There were doubts over Sam Costelow before the game, if he hadn’t made it, Carwyn would have played. Giving these guys opportunities is what we are going to be doing.
“There is a lot of work to do, we have started the process, but I have been really encouraged by the way the guys have taken to it.”
The Scarlets’ travelling fans also earned the praise of Davies, who added: “They were superb, they really lifted the boys when they had to dig deep.
“The players feed off the supporters and vice versa.”
The visitors made a dream start when Taine Plumtree charged down a kick deep in Saints territory, regathered and fed hooker Ryan Elias to score.
Sam Costelow, returning to the side, converted and later added the extras to a second Scarlets try finished by scrum-half Archie Hughes after a superb blindside burst from wing Ellis Mee.
Northampton responded through Italian wing Edoardo Todaro, who claimed a first-half hat-trick, with Anthony Belleau’s boot helping Saints into a 19-14 lead at the break.
The home side then appeared to take control after the interval, extending their advantage with tries from Ollie Sleightholme and Craig Wright to move 33-14 ahead.
But the Scarlets refused to fold. Costelow crossed for his second try before full-back Jac Davies scored under the posts, with Costelow converting both to make it 33-28 and briefly rattle the hosts.
Saints eventually steadied themselves, Belleau landing a penalty before converting a late try to seal the result.
