WALES are weighing up how to use fit-again Taulupe Faletau against England after the legendary number eight was called up for the Six Nations trip to Twickenham.
The Pontypool-raised forward looks set to feature in London on Saturday after proving his fitness with Bath.
The 31-year-old, who headed to the Rec from the Dragons in 2016, played the whole game against Premiership leaders Leicester on Saturday after making his comeback with an hour against Wasps the previous weekend.
Lions back rower Faletau spent seven months out with an ankle injury and last played for Wales when they were denied a Grand Slam at the death by France in Paris last March.
With 86 caps to his name, the presence of Faletau at Twickenham would be a boost for head coach Wayne Pivac in the absence of a raft of big hitters.
Wales fielded a starting trio of Taine Basham, Jack Morgan and Ross Moriarty in the win against Scotland with Aaron Wainwright coming off the bench,
Morgan made his Test debut in Cardiff after replacing Cardiff flanker Ellis Jenkins in the XV that lost to Ireland on opening weekend.
Moriarty was brought back as a replacement in Dublin despite playing just one game for the Dragons after a shoulder injury and everything points to his Rodney Parade predecessor also being given the nod.
"He's a class act, we know that from previous experiences," said coach Neil Jenkins about Faletau.
"He is a fantastic player and brilliant to have in the group. You want your best players available and Taulupe certainly comes into that category."
Faletau only linked up with the squad this week and will be monitored in training ahead of the team announcement on Thursday.
"It's not an easy task because he has been out of the game for some time," said Jenkins.
"We will see how he goes and I am sure Wayne will make the right call about whether he is involved.
"He has been there and done it, he has already played two games for Bath and sometimes in the past we have had players coming in who haven't played any rugby.
"We back ourselves to get them up to speed and get them right. Taulupe only came back in on Monday and has been doing a fair bit of work in the last six weeks with Bath to get right to play.
"We know him pretty well and he is a class player who has been there and done it, so the occasion isn't an issue.
"Test match rugby is different [to club rugby] so we will assess whether he is right or not over the coming days."
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