Edinburgh outside half Jaco van der Walt has flown back to South Africa for his wedding, hoping the decision does not cost him a Scotland cap.

A place has opened up, either starting or on the bench, thanks to the injuries against Wales for both Finn Russell and Adam Hastings, leaving Duncan Weir as the only recognised 10 in the squad.

Van der Walt has been training with Scotland ahead of qualifying on residency grounds on November 16, but he is likely to have to quarantine for 14 days after returning from South Africa this Sunday.

That period of isolation which will come to an end the day after Scotland face France in what could be a first international appearance, though it remains to be seen if regular testing can accelerate that quarantine.

If Russell or Hastings were to recover around then, then van der Walt may find himself having to wait even longer – but that is something he has had to get used with the wedding itself having been postponed from the summer because of Coronavirus restrictions.

 “I’m flying back to South Africa for my wedding,” he explained. “It was going to be in June, but Covid didn’t let that happen so we decided to do it now.

“I qualify for Scotland on November 16, so it’s just around the corner, between the Italy and France games. My focus hasn’t been there at the moment, I’ve just been wanting to play and play well for Edinburgh, but it’s at the back of my mind.

“I want to work hard for it and hopefully get the chance to play at that level. We’ll see what happens.

“I get married on Friday, fly back on Sunday then it sounds like I’m going to have to be in quarantine for a couple of weeks. We’ve no honeymoon planned at the moment, but rugby is my job and I need to get back.

“I’m not sure exactly what’s going to happen with the quarantine but hopefully we can sort stuff out and I can be back on the pitch as soon as possible. I don’t know if it can be accelerated because I’m being regularly tested, but I hope so. I don’t want to sit two weeks at home.

“But it might be that the first weekend I’m eligible to play for Scotland, I’m in quarantine. I’ll keep in touch with the docs and see what they say. I’m only going to SA for five days.”

Van der Walt was talking at Parc y Scarlets where just over 24 hours earlier Scotland were celebrating a first win in Wales for 18 years, while worrying about the injuries to their top two outside halves.

“It’s obviously bad for Scotland,” said van der Walt. “They’re two really good fly-halves, Finn Russell is the best fly-half in the world. It’s sad for Scotland but if the opportunity comes my way, I definitely want to grab it and use the opportunity.

“My focus back in 2017 was just to settle in Edinburgh, get used to the cold. That wasn’t a great season for me but I’ve improved and got better in the next couple of years. I’m settled and really enjoying being with the boys.”

Wife-to-Siobhan moved to Edinburgh with van der Walt, but has been back in South Africa making arrangements for Friday, before the pair return on Sunday.

It does leave Edinburgh coach Richard Cockerill with a headache, on top of a series of injuries in Llanelli.

“Jaco will miss the Cardiff game and then at this point he will have to quarantine,” said Cockerill.

“Nathan Chamberlain will step up and we will be short in that 10 position, but that’s the challenge. For me we have to use this time to keep blooding young players, keep blooding new players and there’s going to be opportunities for guys across the board.”