South Africa will put Ruan Pienaar through his paces in training this week before making a decision on his availability for Saturday’s Test with Ireland.
Ulster scrum-half Pienaar is working his way back from a medial ligament injury suffered against New Zealand in September and will test the knee over the next few days.
Springbok doctor Craig Roberts believes Pienaar will struggle to make Saturday’s Aviva Stadium clash, and if he fails to recover in time for the trip to Twickenham a week later, South Africa will consider calling up a replacement.
"The biggest decision we have to make this week is around Ruan Pienaar," said Roberts.
"We have assessed him and we're relatively happy with where he is, but we are going to have to see when he is running on the field in training.
"At this stage it does not look like he will be available for this weekend, but we are hoping to have him ready for England.
"If he is not going to be ready for that then we may need to look at a replacement for the tour."
With Pienaar a major doubt and Fourie du Preez also absent through injury, the Springboks are likely to start with Francois Hougaard at scrum-half on Saturday, with the inexperienced Cobus Reinach on the bench.
Watch Ireland v South Africa live on Sky Sports 2 on Saturday from 5pm