Finn Russell is expected to be available for Scotland's Nations Championship clash with the Springboks at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday, with coach Gregor Townsend confirming the flyhalf has trained fully this week and is clear of the calf injury that kept him out of last weekend's 47-38 win over Argentina.
Russell missed Bath's final three Premiership matches of the season with the same complaint, and Scotland opted to hold him back from the Argentina game as a precaution ahead of the tougher fixtures to come. Townsend indicated the Bath playmaker may well have been fit to face the Pumas but was given extra training time to ensure he is fully prepared for the step up in class.
There is less positive news on the prop front. Elliot Millar Mills suffered a calf injury early in the Argentina victory and is ruled out for the remainder of Scotland's Nations Championship campaign, missing both the Springbok match and the subsequent fixture against Fiji.
Townsend acknowledged the scale of what awaits his side in Pretoria, noting that none of his current squad has faced South Africa away from home in a Scotland jersey. Scotland arrive on the back of four wins from their last five matches and sit fifth in the world rankings, but Townsend was measured in his assessment, describing the fixture as the biggest challenge in world rugby and a definitive measure of where his squad stands.