South Africa half-backs Handre Pollard and Embrose Papier have points to prove while head coach Rassie Erasmus will create history in a Nations Championship test against Scotland on Saturday.
Veteran fly-half Pollard has been off form with his club the Bulls. Renowned for brilliant goal kicking, he fluffed four attempts in a United Rugby Championship (URC) match last month.
Scrum-half Papier will wear the Springbok green and gold in Pretoria for the first time since 2018, the reward for an outstanding season with URC runners-up the Bulls.
Erasmus, the mastermind behind the 2019 and 2023 Rugby World Cup triumphs, will be head coach of South Africa for a record 55th time, overtaking 2007 World Cup winner Jake White.
Fresh from a seven-try first-round win in Argentina, Scotland also have ambitions in a country where they have lost all seven previous tests against the Springboks.
Head coach Gregor Townsend told reporters, "We are definitely going to be up against it physically and we are going to relish those challenges."
Pollard kicked 34 points in the past two World Cup finals, helping South Africa crush England in Yokohama, then squeeze past New Zealand in Paris four years later.
With first-choice playmaker Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu injured and Manie Libbok rested after impressing in a win over England last weekend, Pollard gets a chance to regain form.
Erasmus sprung to the defence of the 31-year-old amid much social media criticism, saying a slump in form does not make him a bad player.
"He has always performed for us. We know what Handre can do. He is not an old guy. Why would he all of a sudden play badly?
"A lot of people have had a lot to say about Handre. Maybe it is just one of those things. For a couple of weeks he was not great."
FIERCE COMPETITION
Papier has partnered Pollard regularly at club level, and the Scotland test offers him a chance to come into the reckoning for a place in the Springboks 2027 World Cup squad.
Competition for the No 9 shirt is fierce. Cobus Reinach and Grant Williams are the leading current contenders, but Morne van den Berg and Faf de Klerk cannot be discounted.
Explaining the lengthy absence of Papier, Erasmus said, "There were a lot of really good scrum-halves when I took over in 2018.
"Embrose did not miss out because he was playing badly. It was just that his rivals were performing superbly.
"However, we could not ignore how well he has being playing this season. He is in the team on merit."
Switching to his looming personal achievement, Erasmus said, "When players reach milestones we do not talk about it in the build up to matches.
"The same applies to me. It is nice to know but the most important thing is performing against a very dangerous Scotland team."
South Africa have changed 10 of the starters who faced England in Johannesburg. Pieter-Steph du Toit will lead the Springboks in the continued absence of injured fellow flanker Siya Kolisi.
Scotland last faced the Springboks in South Africa 12 years ago and suffered a humiliating 55-6 loss in Port Elizabeth (now Gqeberha).
But they have received a huge boost with the recovery from a calf injury of star fly-half Finn Russell, who replaces Tom Jordan.
Townsend has made two other changes, promoting tighthead prop Zander Fagerson and lock Gregor Brown.
"Nothing beats the experience of going up against the leading side in the world. It is going to be valuable learning for the players, but we do not really talk about that with the players.
"We talk about winning and how we put ourselves in a position to win and what we need to do to create opportunities to win.
"They are going to be really physical in their defence. There are going to be times where they get the upper hand. I hope there will be times when we cause them problems.
"It is one of those superb, unique occasions that the players will certainly be motivated for," added Townsend.