Wales will give fitness tests to two key players before finalising their side to face England at the Millennium Stadium , the second time in a week that their preparations have been disrupted late on. Gavin Henson and Ryan Jones succumbed to calf strains before the opener against Scotland and the wing Shane Williams is rated at 50-50 after straining ankle ligaments at Murrayfield.

The No8 Andy Powell is expected to recover from a calf strain he sustained in training to take his place in a back row which includes the captain, Ryan Jones, in the only change from the starting line-up against Scotland.

Henson was ruled out by injury and the Wales coach, Warren Gatland, admitted that he was concerned at the prospect of losing Williams, who has scored seven tries in his last six Six Nations matches. "Shane was not great on Wednesday but he has improved considerably since then," said Gatland, who is confident Powell will be fit. If Williams pulls out, he would be replaced by Mark Jones, the Scarlets wing who has not played since 1 January after having his appendix removed. "It is a bit of a concern that Mark has not played recently," added Gatland, "but we took the decision not to consider him for Scotland to give him more time to work on his fitness and he has looked very sharp in training this week."

Mauro Bergamasco returns to his familiar place in the back row and Calvisano's Paul Griffen is back in the Italy side after a 16-month absence with the coach, Nick Mallett, making five changes to his starting line-up for Sunday's meeting with Ireland in Rome. Griffen's club-mate Luke McLean comes in at fly-half for the injured Andrea Marcato who has failed to recover from a neck injury picked up against England.