England v Wales
Wales expect to face Tuilagi
ESPN Staff
March 4, 2014
Shaun Edwards is preparing to face Manu Tuilagi © Getty Images
Enlarge

Wales coach Shaun Edwards is preparing to face England's Manu Tuilagi on Sunday.

Tuilagi played his first match since September at the weekend after suffering a pectoral injury while on duty for Leicester back in September. The knock saw Tuilagi ruled out of England's autumn internationals programme and he has missed their first three matches of the 2014 championship.

But Tuilagi returned to the England training squad this week and although Stuart Lancaster has played down suggestions of Tuilagi featuring on Sunday, Edwards believes he will play some part.

Edwards said:"I don't know about starting, I don't pick the England team, but I definitely think he [Tuilagi] will be involved."

And Wales are set to have their own outside centre Jonathan Davies available for selection after a spell out injured. Davies has also been sidelined while he recovered from pectoral muscle damage, in his case suffered during Wales' opening autumn series loss to South Africa four months ago.

But after playing 65 minutes for the Scarlets at the weekend, Davies could feature against England alongside the now fit again Alun Wyn Jones who missed their round three win over France.

"It was great see him [Davies] come through the game on Saturday," Edwards added. "He has worked very hard with the conditioners during his time off, and I think that showed in the way he played on Saturday against a very strong opponent in Munster. He is looking forward to competing for a Wales shirt again.

"Ideally, he would have been playing week in, week out, but it is not always like that. Sometimes with special players you make special exceptions. It is nice to have that (midfield) combination (Davies and Roberts). If Jonathan gets the nod, it is good to have that kind of understanding. They have played together for a long time."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd

Live Sports

Communication error please reload the page.