England duo in fitness test

(10) Mrs L Williamson 5 9-12 ......... G Malune (3) 46

(38) P Howling 8 9-7 ................J Haynes 61 (108) J R Jenkins 11 9-5 (CD2) .. Rossa Ryan 50 (23) Martin Smith 4 9-5 (BF) ................... D Brock 59 (22) L Carter 7 9-3 (C) ........................ Joe Bradnam (7) —

(6) R C Guest 4 9-0 ............ C Shepherd 61 (6) R C Guest 10 9-0 (D6) .................. P Prince 56 BETTING: 7-4 Affluence, 2 Foxrush Take Time, 13-2 Voice of A Leader, 7 Outlaw Torn, 10 Karam Albaari, 20 Tabla, Blue Rocks.

9-2fav Behind, headway over 1f out, ran on inside final furlong, never reached winner, 2nd of 12, 1 1/2l behind Clearance at Kempton 1m 3f app hcp 0-50 (7) pol in Feb. 10-1 Slowly into stride, mid-division, headway over 1f out, ran on inside final furlong, never reached winner, 2nd of 9, nk behind Don’t Do It at Chelmsford City 1m 2f hcp (6) pol. 11-1 Soon handy, led over 7f out, ridden over 2f out, headed 1f out, one pace, 6th of 12, 4l behind Sharp Operator at Wolverhampton 1m 1f hcp 0-60 (6) in Jan. 25-1 Held up in touch, headway over 1f out, ran on into 2nd, never a trheat, 3rd of 8, 3 1/2l behind Arlecchino’s Arc at Chelmsford City 1m 2f hcp (6) pol.

20-1 Held up in rear, wide on home turn, never dangerous, 7th of

10, 6l behind Lumen at Lingfield 2m hcp 0-60 (6) pol in Nov.

33-1 Towards rear, ridden over 2f out, never dangerous, 9th of 10, 10l behind Martineo at Wolverhampton 7f hcp 0-75 (5) in Feb. 50-1 Chased leaders 6f, 11th of 12, 24l behind Irish Times at Chelmsford City 1m Classified Stakes (4yo+) (6) pol in Feb. RUGBY UNION Maro Itoje and Jack Nowell will be given every opportunity to prove their fitness for England’s Guinness Six Nations showdown with Italy at Twickenham on Saturday.

Itoje suffered an injury to the same knee damaged in the Championship opener against Ireland on February 2 when performing a forwards drill in training on Tuesday.

Charlie Ewels is on standby to replace the Lions lock if he fails to recover in time with Joe Launchbury and George Kruis forming the starting second row partnership.

Nowell has been struggling with the shoulder stinger incurred in the opening two minutes against Wales and is also a major doubt ahead of Thursday morning’s team announcement.

Should he succumb to the injury, bulldozing Fijian-born wing Joe Cokanasiga will step up from the bench into the number 14 jersey.