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Edinburgh - Huw Jones was recalled for Scotland’s Test against the Springboks because he’s been fresh and extra sharp in training, coach Gregor Townsend has said.
Jones has a tackle success rate of 85 percent this year, better than any other tier one Test centre.
He was dropped for last week’s Test against Fiji after some "big mistakes", as Townsend noted, when the only two tackles he missed against Wales were exploited for two tries and 12 points, as Scotland lost 21-10 in Cardiff at the start of the month.
Alex Dunbar played against Fiji last weekend but had made way again for Jones.
The motivation isn't a mystery. The Wales game would have rankled, and Saturday is the first chance Jones has to play old team-mates among the Springboks.
Before Scotland discovered him, the 24-year-old played for Western Province and the Stormers, and was a team-mate with the likes of South Africa captain Siya Kolisi, Damian de Allende, and Pieter-Steph du Toit, all of whom are playing on Saturday, too.
Tommy Seymour, Jones' Scotland and Glasgow team-mate, expects him to have another big game on Saturday.
"It's so easy for everyone else to look at (the missed tackles) and go with that because that's easy," Seymour said. "But there were failings in and around what happened that had nothing to do with him and weren't his fault, that we need to correct, to put him in less problematic positions.
"Huw's played unbelievably well for Scotland, and he's had phenomenal moments to help us win games. Huw will bounce back, I have no doubt. Any votes of confidence or help he needs, he gets, because we're all aware of what he brings to the party. Shug will be absolutely fine."
Saturday’s Test at Murrayfield is scheduled for 19:20 (SA time).
Teams:
Scotland
15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Pete Horne, 11 Sean Maitland, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Greig Laidlaw (captain), 8 Ryan Wilson, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 Sam Skinner 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Ben Toolis, 3 WP Nel, 2 Stuart McInally, 1 Gordon Reid
Substitutes: 16 Fraser Brown, 17 Allan Dell, 18 Simon Berghan, 19 Josh Strauss, 20 Jamie Ritchie, 21 Ali Price, 22 Adam Hastings, 23 Chris Harris.
South Africa
15 Willie le Roux, 14 S’bu Nkosi, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Aphiwe Dyantyi, 10 Handre Pollard, 9 Embrose Papier, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi (captain), 5 Franco Mostert, 4 RG Snyman, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Steven Kitshoff
Substitutes: 16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Thomas du Toit, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Lood de Jager, 20 Francois Louw, 21 Ivan van Zyl, 22 Elton Jantjies, 23 Cheslin Kolbe
