Finn Russell has returned from injury to take his place at fly-half as Scotland prepare to face the world champion Springboks this weekend.<\/p>\n
The playmaker has not played in almost two months with a calf issue suffered in May, ruling him out of the end of Bath\u2019s PREM campaign.<\/p>\n
Russell<\/a> also missed the Argentina clash, but the inspirational pivot has fully recovered in time for the Springboks<\/a> showdown.<\/p>\n Scotland<\/a> will go into the game with plenty of confidence following a hugely impressive 47-38 victory over Argentina last weekend, and unsurprisingly, Townsend<\/a> has kept changes to a minimum.<\/p>\n The return of Russell is one of just three alterations to the XV. One of those is injury-enforced, with Zander Fagerson coming in for Elliot Millar Mills at tighthead, while the other sees Gregor Brown start ahead of Jonny Gray.<\/p>\n They remain unchanged elsewhere as Kyle Rowe, Kyle Steyn and Jamie Dobie once again combine in the back three, with captain Sione Tuipulotu and Rory Hutchinson the midfield duo.<\/p>\n Ben White is at scrum-half, reuniting with Russell to form the excellent half-back partnership.<\/p>\n Forward selection<\/p>\n Up front, the loose trio is unaltered as Jack Dempsey, Rory Darge and Matt Fagerson form a well-balanced back-row, while Scott Cummings is alongside Brown at lock. Hooker Ewan Ashman and loosehead prop Pierre Schoeman complete the run-on side.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, on the bench, Scotland have looked to fight fire with fire by selecting their own \u2018Bomb Squad\u2019 after going with a 6-2 split.<\/p>\n Gregor Hiddleston, Rory Sutherland and Will Hurd are the replacement front-row, while Alex Samuel and loose forward duo Josh Bayliss and Magnus Bradbury complete the forward reserves.<\/p>\n Townsend has opted not to name a scrum-half on the bench due to Dobie\u2019s presence at wing, which results in George Horne being omitted.<\/p>\n Darcy Graham is also ousted, which means Tom Jordan and Stafford McDowall provide the backline cover.<\/p>\n