Jonny Wilkinson is in line to make his latest comeback from injury on Saturday. The England World Cup winner, who has not played since suffering a lacerated kidney at the beginning of November, has been passed fit by Newcastle's medical staff and is in contention for a place in the squad at Leicester.

"Jonny did some contact stuff on the bags last week and, in physical terms, he could not be fitter," said the Newcastle director of rugby, John Fletcher. "All he needs now is to play. He is away with England for the first three days this week and we have Thursday off, so it will be Friday before we can get a good look at him. I am keeping in touch with him by telephone and we will take it from there before deciding whether to chuck him in against Leicester." Wilkinson has only played three matches for the Falcons this season: he was making his comeback against Bristol after tearing knee ligaments in the second week of the campaign.

Wilkinson's colleague on the 2005 Lions tour to New Zealand, the Ospreys' wing Shane Williams, will miss Wales' opening match of the Six Nations Championship against Ireland after suffering a hip injury against Sale in the Heineken Cup last Saturday.

Williams will be out for at least two weeks, leaving Wales short of cover on the wing after Mark Jones was injured earlier this month. Their head coach, Gareth Jenkins, yesterday announced a 33-man squad for the tournament, saying it marked the start of their campaign to win the World Cup in October.

There was a return for the thirtysomething forwards Colin Charvis and Mefin Davies, but a notable omission was the No8 Michael Owen, who captained Wales in the latter stages of their 2005 grand slam as well as last year. Jenkins has asked the Ospreys to play Gavin Henson at full-back against Ulster on Saturday, the position in which he is likely to be considered for Wales with James Hook emerging as the preferred choice at inside-centre.

"Gavin is an adaptable player," said Jenkins, who met the four Welsh regions yesterday to agree a programme for the management of elite players, a process which, much to the envy of England, took two hours. "We have injuries in the back division with Sonny Parker, Shane and Mark out for a bit, while Tom Shanklin should return from injury on Saturday. We aim to win the World Cup, but one thing you cannot control is injuries. You need to keep your players fit and that is why a meaningful partnership with the regions is so important."