Wales are prepared to gamble on the match fitness of Jonathan Davies against England at Twickenham a week on Sunday in recognition of the threat the men in white have developed in attack. The Lions centre makes his second comeback from an arm and chest injury on Saturday, starting for the Scarlets in their home RaboDirect Pro12 match against Munster.
England's growing confidence in playing a wider game has helped them overturn deficits against four major opponents this season: Australia, New Zealand, France and Ireland. They were leading against all of them at the start of the final quarter, only for the All Blacks and Les Bleus to strike back.
"England are maturing as a side and they have learned how to get momentum back in games," said the Wales attack coach, Rob Howley. "They are a very potent attacking side, especially at home and they played particularly well against Ireland in the last round and they deserve great credit from coming back from 10-3 down early in the second half.
"Having Jon available again would be a huge boost for us and we hope he can prove his fitness. He is a huge talent who played a big part in our Six Nations success in the last couple of seasons and he developed during the Lions tour to Australia last year. He is a senior player and his left-footed kicking gives us another option."
Davies has not played for Wales since being injured at the start of the opening autumn international campaign against South Africa. His replacement, Scott Williams, suffered shoulder damage in the second round against Ireland and will miss the rest of the tournament while Howley admitted that the decision to move George North into the midfield from the wing against France last week asked a lot of the player.
"It is very difficult when you have been programmed since the age of nine to play in one position to move to another," he said. "There were times when he had to think a bit against France and that is not a luxury you are given in international rugby. He did well overall, but having three wings in the outside backs meant we lost shape occasionally."
If Davies returns, Wales would have the same outside backs who took the field against England at the Millennium Stadium at the end of the 2012 Six Nations when they enjoyed a record victory, 30-3.
"Everyone is talking about that game, but it has no relevance now," said Howley. "It is a triple crown game for them and we want to remain in the shout for the title. We have not talked about the motivation factor and all that matters is what is on the line for both sides. Twickenham is an excellent surface to play good rugby on and that is what we need to do."
The Wales second-row Alun Wyn Jones is expected to be fit after pulling out of the victory over France with a foot infection, although he has not trained this week. "He is recuperating well and we will see how he is next week," said Howley.
