Springboks great Victor Matfield has compared Scotland and England, suggesting the form of the Scottish clubs makes them a tougher challenge.

The former South African international is widely regarded as one of the greatest locks in rugby history. He captained the Springboks and Blue Bulls, won the 2007 Rugby World Cup and was named Player of the World Cup.

South Africa will not face either side this autumn unless they meet during the finals weekend. However, both teams will take on the All Blacks, with Scotland hosting New Zealand this weekend before England welcome them two weeks later.

With New Zealand and South Africa sitting at the top of the southern hemisphere standings, both having collected maximum points from their three matches, the Springboks will be keeping a close eye on how the All Blacks perform this autumn.

Matfield believes the form of Edinburgh and Glasgow Warriors makes Scotland a formidable opponent, potentially even more difficult than England.

Glasgow currently sit top of the URC, with Edinburgh in fifth. Three South African provinces sit between them, while Glasgow remain the only unbeaten side in the competition.

Gallagher PREM clubs managed just one win from eight matches in the opening round of European rugby this season.

Their struggles have led many to question whether English domestic rugby is preparing players adequately for the Test arena.

“The Scottish teams are actually at the top of the table. Glasgow are unbeaten and Edinburgh were unbeaten [before the Benetton loss]," Matfield said on the Rugby Rivals podcast.

“The Scottish team might actually be a bigger challenge than England. England aren’t doing great in the Champions Cup, their players are going at each other.

“South Africa is in a place where you can just see the Springboks, even when they play each other, when they run off it’s almost like an arm around them, there’s a lot of respect, whereas the English guys are going for each other. It just feels like there is something going on in that camp.

“The Scottish teams are really playing great and they’re playing nice rugby; they use the ball quite a bit.”

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