George North given the 'green light' to face England
George North given the ‘green light’ to win his 100th Wales cap against England in the Six Nations with trio Jonathan Davies, Johnny Williams and Josh Navidi also set to return
- George North has been given a ‘green light’ to to win his 100th cap vs England
- The 28-year-old missed last weekend’s victory over Scotland with foot injury
- Johnny Williams, Jonathan Davies and Josh Navidi all available for Wayne Pivac
Wales will welcome back the cavalry for the England Six Nations match next Saturday, with George North, Jonathan Davies, Johnny Williams and Josh Navidi all fit again.
North, who missed last weekend’s victory over Scotland after scoring in the opening round against Ireland, is in line to win his 100th Wales cap in Cardiff next weekend.
Unbeaten after two rounds the Welsh have struggled with injuries, with nine players unavailable for their win in Scotland last time out.
George North has been given the ‘green light’ to feature in Six Nations fixture against England
But now after a break many are set to return after a positive update on their fitness.
North (foot), Davies (ankle) and Navidi (neck) have the ‘green light’ to play and are taking part in training. They are joined by centre Williams, who has passed his head-injury protocols, and wing Josh Adams who returns from his Covid breach ban.
While Leigh Halfpenny and Hallam Amos still have to jump through more hoops to return from concussions, Wales are almost back to a full complement of backs.
‘It’s fantastic,’ said attack coach Stephen Jones.
The 28-year-old is set to win his 100th cap after missing last weekend’s victory over Scotland
‘That’s what we want. We went up to Murrayfield on a six day turnaround.
‘The game against Ireland was very, very physical. We picked up some bumps and bruises in midfield. Obviously with Nick Tompkins and Owen Watkin doing a great job and Willis Halaholo coming on, and now these guys returning to full health, we’ve got a full pool to choose from which is what we want.’
On Adams’ return, having been suspended for attending a gender-reveal party before the start of the tournament, breaking lockdown rules, Jones said: ‘He’s been superb, worked incredibly hard, as you’d expect from Josh.
‘He’s a great person, trained incredibly hard and is desperate to put the Welsh jersey on, as is everyone in the group.
Louis Rees-Zammit (left) and Talupe Faletau (right) will play for their clubs this weekend
‘Competition for places is what we want, it’s healthy, as we challenge ourselves daily to get better. Results are starting to come now.
‘It’s great. It might give us selection headaches, but that’s what you want as coaches.’
Adams is now in line to join wing sensation Louis Rees-Zammit in the Welsh side.
The 20-year-old, who has three tries in the first two rounds, plays for Gloucester against Bath in the Premiership on Friday as Sportsmail reported yesterday, and will face Taulupe Faletau who starts at flanker in the west country derby.
The Welsh are crossing their fingers that neither are injured on club duty.
Josh Adams is available for Wales again after serving two-match ban for breaching Covid rules
‘It’s difficult when they go back to England to play, because we lose access to them from a training perspective,’ added Jones.
‘The positive with the players mentioned there is it’s a Friday game, not a Sunday game. So they’ll have more time to recover.’
On the challenge of facing England next, Jones said: ‘We respect England as they’re Six Nations champions. There’s a huge amount of experience in their side.
‘From our perspective, we’re really looking forward to it. We know it’s going to be a physical challenge, but we’re back in Cardiff and are two from two. There’s a lot of momentum and huge amount of excitement here.’
Attack coach Stephen Jones admitted the mood in Wales camp is high after two wins from two
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