Scotland will walk out at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday carrying more Test caps than the back-to-back world champions they face — and, for the first time in over a decade, a genuine belief they can win on South African soil.
Gregor Townsend has recalled Finn Russell at fly-half for the Nations Championship clash in Pretoria, one of three changes to the side that beat Argentina. The 33-year-old, Scotland's most-capped player in the matchday squad, sat out the Argentina Test as a precaution with a calf problem.
"He trained fully with the team last Wednesday, did his own thing on Friday and then had a session after the team run on Saturday," Townsend said. "He trained fine again today, so he's definitely over the calf injury. He would have been fit [to play against Argentina] at the weekend. We just felt he needed more training to be fully ready for the tough Test matches ahead of us, especially this one."
Zander Fagerson comes in at tighthead after an injury to the unlucky Elliot Millar Mills, and Gregor Brown packs down in the second row. Sione Tuipulotu captains the side.
The visitors bring a striking edge in experience. Scotland's matchday 23 boasts 761 combined caps to South Africa's 514 — a gap of 247 — after Rassie Erasmus rotated heavily, making 10 changes with Handré Pollard returning at fly-half. Yet Townsend is under no illusions about the size of the task.
"No one in our group has played South Africa for Scotland away from home," he said. "It's a unique opportunity for us, obviously the biggest challenge in world rugby. Whatever Bok team we come up against, it will be one of the best in the world, and they show every time they play that they are the best team."
His captain shares the view. "Playing South Africa on their own patch is pretty much the biggest challenge in world rugby right now," Tuipulotu said. "They are back-to-back world champions. It's a unique challenge but one we are really excited for."
Tuipulotu also knows Scotland cannot afford the lapses that crept into their win over Argentina, when they conceded twice late on. "Those final five minutes when we lost a couple of tries will probably narrow the focus for next week — 100%," he said. "We let in two tries which were probably avoidable in those last few minutes. It's not an easy thing to do away from home, but I thought we answered that pretty well if I'm honest."
This will be Scotland's first meeting with the Springboks in South Africa since 2014, and they have never beaten them on South African soil. Russell's presence gives them their best shot yet at changing that — even against altitude, a much-rotated Bok side and a Loftus crowd roaring on several home-ground Bulls players.
Kick-off is 5:40pm local time.
