‘World class’ Jones will worry South Africa – Bob Skinstad

Former South Africa captain Bob Skinstad thinks the Springboks will be wary of Huw Jones at Murrayfield on Sunday, saying the Scotland midfielder is “one of the best centres in the world”.

The sides meet just over a year on from their World Cup pool opener in Marseille, where the Boks overpowered Gregor Townsend’s men en route to lifting the trophy.

Despite the gulf between the sides that day, Skinstad says the South Africans will be respectful of the threats Scotland pose, Jones in particular.

“Huw Jones, for me, he’s been under-recognised as a player for a long time,” Skinstad, who won 42 Springboks caps between 1997 and 2007, said.

“I think Jones is probably one of the best centres in the world. I love the way he runs, I love the way he distributes. He’d fit into a South African team.”

Talking to the BBC’s Scotland Rugby Podcast, Skinstad added: “It’s not often that you can say, ‘let’s pick 12 of the opposition players who can fit into a world champion team’. But I would look across the Scottish guys and say they’ve certainly got a good run at eight or 10 guys who could turn out for another international team, which is fantastic.

“That means you’re in the top five, top six in the world, just by sheer weight of numbers of quality players.”