Cole ready to step up for England
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Bath and England tighthead David Wilson will miss the tournament opener against Wales through injury but should be covered by Dan Cole.
Wilson joins an ever-growing list for England with a neck injury he picked up last week.
"David Wilson won't be ready for Friday," Rowntree said.
"He's not recovered from the nerve impingement.
"We're hoping David will be in the mix for next week, but he's not right at the moment, unfortunately."
Cole has not played since spraining his foot in Leicester's 32-20 win at Sale on December 27, but he is now in line to make his first England appearance since February.
"Dan is available and has progressed well," Rowntree said.
"He trained with us all last week. We increased his rehabilitation and he's trained fully for the last four days.
"Dan is a class, proven operator. He's not been out for six months and has not been sat twiddling his thumbs for the last six weeks. We've trained pretty fast and he's slotted in nicely."
England head coach Stuart Lancaster will announce his team for the game on Wednesday.
Flyhalf Owen Farrell has been ruled out of the entire Six Nations with a knee injury, while centres Brad Barritt and Kyle Eastmond and forwards Geoff Parling and Tom Wood are also set to miss the Wales match.
England's injury list is quite comprehensive: Ben Foden (knee – out for season), Manu Tuilagi (groin – could return next month), Kyle Eastmond (shoulder – will miss first Six Nations match), Brad Barritt (knee – will miss first Six Nations match), Owen Farrell (knee – out for whole Six Nations), Joe Launchbury (neck – could be fit by April), Courtney Lawes (ankle – could return mid-late February), Geoff Parling (knee – will miss opening Six Nations match), Ed Slater (knee – could be fit by April), Tom Wood (ankle – will miss first Six Nations match), Ben Morgan (leg – out for season), David Wilson (neck – will miss first Six Nations match)
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