Scotland receive huge injury boost ahead of Bok showdown
NEWS: Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend has shed light on Finn Russell’s availability ahead of Round Two of the Nations Championship against the Springboks at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.
Russell missed out on Scotland’s opening match of the campaign against Argentina in Cordoba after sustaining a calf injury.
As a result, youngster Tom Jordan started in the flyhalf jumper, and he led the attack brilliantly before Fergus Burke’s cameo off the bench helped Townsend’s side seal a memorable 47-38 victory.
Scotland arrived in South Africa on Monday and got their preparations for Saturday’s clash underway with a light training session.
There was uncertainty surrounding Russell and whether he’d be fully fit to take on the Boks. Townsend provided an update on his injury.
“Yeah, he should be available,” Townsend told reporters on Tuesday.
“He trained fine today [Tuesday], and he trained well at the end of last week.
“On the Wednesday session, he trained fully with the team, and he did his own thing on Friday, and then the guys who weren’t involved did a session on Saturday after the team run.
“He’s definitely over the calf injury. He may have been fit at the weekend, but we just felt that he needed more training to really be available for the tough Test matches that are ahead of us, especially this one this weekend.”
“If Finn had been available for the game, I’m not sure we would’ve started him. This tour is one that we would’ve wanted to give opportunities to the other 10s, and we’ll definitely be doing that in other positions.”
While Russell is expected to face the Boks, Townsend also confirmed that they will be without the services of tighthead prop Elliot Millar Mills.
The Northampton Saints player returned home after suffering an injury against Argentina.
He initially started the match but was replaced early in the first half by Zander Fagerson.
Townsend admitted his injury was a blow to the side but confirmed that no extra cover had been called up to the squad.
“Yeah, it is a blow,” he said.
“It’s a real blow for Elliot, getting the chance to start for Scotland in such a big game and building on the form he’s shown with his club and with us over the last season.
“He’s been playing games for Northampton Saints all the way to the final.
“But the only position we came with more depth was tighthead prop. We are lucky, in a way, to have brought four tightheads out here. So, that means there are no changes to our group.
“Will [Hurd], D’arcy [Rae], and Zander Fagerson are training fully, so while it’s a blow for Elliot, we don’t have to bring anybody else in.”
Scotland will announce their team to face the Springboks on Thursday.
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