Denton replaced injured Edinburgh teammate Ross Rennie in the 51-22 home defeat at the hands of New Zealand with the All Blacks' skill with ball in hand to the fore.
The 22-year-old however is not unduly concerned by the defeat last weekend and believes the style of play honed in the RaboDirect PRO12 will benefit Andy Robinson's side this weekend.
A clash with the Springboks is likely to be more arm-wrestle than anything else.
"A lot of our optimism does stem from having beaten South Africa as recently as 2010, but there is more to it than that," Denton told the Scotsman.
"They are a team our style of rugby suits playing against.
"Facing the All Blacks could have been more physical and it was more the tempo they played at which was the tough thing.
"The physical challenge is coming on Saturday.
"These Boks are a side we can definitely play well against. Their tempo is a lot slower and they are a lot more physical but we can definitely handle that."
Meanwhile, Rennie looks set to be out of Scotland and Edinburgh action for an extended period with the dislocated shoulder he sustained against New Zealand.
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