WALES will give Dan Biggar and George North until the last possible minute to prove their fitness for Saturday's Six Nations showdown with England.

The fly-half and wing have been named in the starting XV for the clash in Cardiff after suffering rib and leg injuries respectively against Italy on opening weekend.

Wales have contingency plans with Sam Davies and Alex Cuthbert the likely deputies while coach Rob Howley has spoken to Leicester boss Aaron Mauger to make him aware of the situation to ensure that uncapped fly-half Owen Williams is ready if needed on the bench.

The Tigers face Gloucester in the Aviva Premiership on Saturday and name their squad for Welford Road tomorrow lunchtime.

Northampton wing North, scorer of the third try at the Stadio Olimpico, has played little part in preparations this week while Ospreys pivot Biggar has been limited to a couple of sessions.

After naming them in his side, Howley says that they will live the final decision about the key duo until matchday.

“Those two players will be given every opportunity to be fit,” said the interim head coach. “They are two experienced and important players for us, George in the wide channels and Dan through his leadership.

“We are giving them every opportunity to be fit and will go to the day of the game, because it’s a big game and both players want to be part of that team as you would expect.

“We’ve prepared as best as we can. The six days have focused our minds but we’ve been here before in the Rugby World Cup.

“We’ve got extremely motivated players and looking forward to the challenge that England will bring.”

Howley has resisted the temptation to start with Davies after the Osprey made a telling contribution in Rome, helping turn a 7-3 half-time deficit into a 33-7 success.

“Every coach will tell you it’s about your 23 and 36,” said Howley. “Sam is a fantastic player and that’s the impact that you want from your bench.

“Dan paid particularly well in the first half with two try-saving tackles. It’s nice to have two quality 10s, and Owen, to give us headaches.”

Howley has made two changes to his XV with props Rob Evans and Tomas Francis earning starts after impressing off the bench in place of Nicky Smith and Samson Lee.

Newport Gwent Dragons lock Cory Hill keeps his place among the replacements after Luke Charteris failed to recover from a hand injury while his former teammate Taulupe Faletau returns from a knee injury with 20 on his back.

The Lions number eight has not played since suffering a knee injury for Bath on Christmas Eve and will back up the trio of Sam Warburton, Justin Tipuric and Ross Moriarty.

“I think it speaks volumes of our back row when you see us releasing Thomas Young, who has been one of the in-form 7s in the Aviva Premiership,” said Howley.

“When you’ve got Tipuric, Warburton, Faletau, Moriarty, I think the quality and experience in that back row will have a significant impact on the game.

“Toby hasn’t played for a long time but it hasn’t looked like that in training. With his deft touches and ability to beat defenders we will be looking for the same impact from Toby as we had last weekend.”

Wales: L Halfpenny (Toulon); G North (Northampton), J Davies (Scarlets), S Williams (Scarlets), L Williams (Scarlets); D Biggar (Ospreys), R Webb (Ospreys); R Evans (Scarlets), K Owens (Scarlets), T Francis (Exeter), J Ball (Scarlets), A W Jones (Ospreys, captain), S Warburton (Cardiff Blues), J Tipuric (Ospreys), R Moriarty (Gloucester).

Replacements: S Baldwin (Ospreys), N Smith (Ospreys), S Lee (Scarlets), C Hill (Newport Gwent Dragons), T Faletau (Bath), G Davies (Scarlets), S Davies (Ospreys), J Roberts (Harlequins).