Gregor Townsend, the Scotland head coach, believes that WP Nel is ready to put his injury woes behind him and regain his reputation as one of the finest props in world rugby.
Townsend has picked Nel in his starting line-up for Saturday’s Test against Italy in the Singapore National Stadium. The South African-born forward, who qualified for Scotland on residency grounds just in time for the 2015 World Cup, missed most of last season with a serious neck injury that required career-saving surgery in January.
Nel made his return to action with a 30-minute cameo for the Barbarians against England late last month and Townsend was satisfied with what he saw there, and in Scotland’s preparations since.
“It was an important game for him, having not played since January,” said the coach. “He has worked really hard, I was so impressed. Someone who has had a serious injury can be a bit tentative but he has trained from day one, whether it was contract sessions, attack, defence or scrummaging. He has coped really well.
“It is a huge boost to have somebody acknowledged as one of the best tightheads in the world at the last Rugby World Cup — somebody who was getting better and better and thriving at international level.”
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Josh Strauss, who suffered kidney damage playing against France in the Six Nations in February, also returns after a lengthy absence. Townsend pointed out that Strauss had put his time off to good use, but admitted that being out of rugby for so long could still affect his performance.
Townsend said: “In his recovery he only had to do six weeks of non-contact training, so he had six weeks just doing fitness, which he loved. Contact came at the end of the season so he has had four weeks now of full training. But nothing replicates a game like playing a game. Josh, like a number of our players, will have to find his feet pretty quickly.”