WP Nel and Zander Fagerson return to training for Scotland

Scotland's Six Nations campaign has been boosted after props WP Nel and Zander Fagerson returned to training.

Gregor Townsend's side are preparing to host England next weekend which could decide their campaign after defeat to Wales and a win over France in their opening games.

Their preparations for the trip to Cardiff - which ended in humiliation - were hampered by the enforced absence of several front-row forwards, but Nel and Fagerson have returned to training to bolster the pack.

Hooker Fraser Brown is also nearing a return but will not be fit to take the field against England.

Nel has been absent since suffering a broken arm in the autumn international opener against Samoa, while Fagerson picked up a foot problem at the start of January, but the pair were spotted training at an open session at Townsend's old club in Galashiels.

"He [Nel] is running around," the Scotland head coach said. "He trained with us on Wednesday and we are just having a look.

"Zander trained with us today because Glasgow have a game so we will see how they get on this week and potentially next week we will be able to make a call on whether they are available, or it could be after the England game."

On Brown, he added: "We hope he will resume full training next week, but that's likely to be with his club but he should be back available pretty soon.

"It is a huge boost to have those experienced players in similar positions is a boost.

"The other is Richie Gray and we will know more this weekend whether he will be back full training too."

Gray is another who has been a long-term absence after suffering a succession of back and calf injuries and at the start of the tournament it was feared he could miss the whole competition, but Townsend is optimistic he could return for the final two matches.

The second row remains with his club in Toulouse, but is being closely monitored ahead of a potential return.

Townsend said: "He's not with us, [but] he should know over the weekend whether he can resume full training."