Scotland captain Stuart Hogg says South Africa's selection ahead of Saturday's Test at Murrayfield in Edinburgh is a token of respect for the hosts.
Heavyweights the likes of No 8 Duane Vermeulen, lock Eben Etzbeth, centres Damian de Allende and Lukhanyo Am and skipper Siya Kolisi were all included in the starting XV named by Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber.
"South Africa are a very impressive team and are world champions for a reason," Hogg said, as quoted by The Herald Scotland. "They have some of the best individual rugby players and as a collective are incredibly strong.
"The side they have named is incredibly strong. I see that as a huge respect given to us in that they have named a full-strength squad and shows how far we have come. In saying that, no matter what team they put out it would have been incredibly strong."
The Scots are riding high after a 15-13 win over Australia - a team that twice got the better of South Africa in the Rugby Championship earlier this year.
But Hogg said they were not getting too far ahead of themselves.
"We have had some big wins over the last 18 months or so and we are excited for the opportunity to take on the world champions at Murrayfield," the Scotland skipper added.
Hogg was speaking at an event in Edinburgh on Wednesday highlighting the work done by the Laureus Sport for Good to grow the game of rugby globally.
Saturday's Test is scheduled for 15:00 (SA time).
Scotland
15 Stuart Hogg (captain), 14 Rufus McLean, 13 Chris Harris, 12 Matt Scott, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Ali Price, 8 Matt Fagerson, 7 Jamie Ritchie, 6 Nick Haining, 5 Grant Gilchrist, 4, Sam Skinner, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 Scott McInally 1 Pierre Schoeman
Substitutes: 16 Ewan Ashman, 17 Jamie Bhattie, 18 Oli Kebble, 19 Jamie Hodgson, 20 Hamish Watson, 21 George Horne, 22 Adam Hastings, 23 Blair Kinghorn
Springboks
15 Willie le Roux, 14 Jesse Kriel, 13 Lukhanyo Am, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Elton Jantjies, 9 Herschel Jantjies, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Kwagga Smith, 6 Siya Kolisi (captain), 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Trevor Nyakane, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Ox Nche
Substitutes: 16 Malcolm Marx, 17 Steven Kitshoff, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Lood de Jager, 20 Jasper Wiese, 21 Cobus Reinach, 22 Handre Pollard, 23 Frans Steyn