The Australia-born lock has been out of action since the middle of March, after breaking a bone in his foot while playing for his club side, Perpignan, in their European Cup victory over Olympique Castres.

Frank Hadden, the national coach, has confirmed that Hines is once again available for selection but was refusing to give any hints before announcing his side on Wednesday.

He said: Nathan started training with us full-time last Wednesday and so is available for selection.

He is available so its up to us whether we pick him or not.'

Given that a big part of Scotlands problems in Saturdays 42-20 defeat to England stemmed from a failure to match Englands brawn in the forward exchanges, it seems possible that Hadden will turn to the 38-times capped lock.

Hadden has gained a reputation as one of his countrys toughest competitors in the pack since making his debut against New Zealand during the summer of 2000.

Hadden also revealed that he was hopeful about the prospect of Hugo Southwell recovering from the knee ligament strain he picked up against England in time for the Wales match.

Southwell did not take part in Mondays training session but has not been ruled out of contention and Hadden remains confident he will feature.

The full-back is receiving extensive physiotherapy from Scotland medics Stuart Barton and Stephen Mutch and will be further assessed before the side is confirmed.

Hadden said: Hugo has got a slight knee problem which is being monitored at the moment.

It didnt look too good on Sunday, but looks a lot better now.

I dont know how long he will be out for. There was a feeling at one stage that it might be a few weeks, but thats not the case now. Hes not been ruled out yet.

If Southwell fails to make it in time to start, Hadden is confident that his squad has enough strength in depth to cope.

Im pretty happy with the competition weve got for places. We have so many young and hungry guys trying to fill spaces in the squad and full-back is the same as anywhere else.

Hadden also hinted that forward Allister Hogg may also return to the starting line-up after playing 20 minutes from the bench against England.

Meanwhile, Simon Webster and Mike Blair are not far away from being ready to return to the national set-up after recovering from ankle and shoulder injuries respectively.

In an ideal world you wouldnt have too many of them playing at once because theyre not all that match fit, but we have to try and generate that [match fitness] because there are only six games to go until the World Cup, said Hadden.