Six Nations rivals England and Wales are set to train alongside each other in Bristol next month.
Forwards from Eddie Jones’ England squad and Warren Gatland’s Wales will link up on Monday, November 6, to put each other through their paces ahead of their respective autumn Tests, while Welsh referee Nigel Owens has also been brought in to oversee what is expected to be an intense training pitch encounter.
The idea for a one-off session involving players from two separate home nations was cooked up by England forwards coach Steve Borthwick and Wales head coach Gatland as they worked together to help lead the British & Irish Lions to a series draw with New Zealand in the summer.
“There will be a match of 12 large scrums and 15 line-outs,” England chief Jones told the BBC.
“We wanted Wayne Barnes (England) to referee but they asked for Nigel Owens (Wales) and we bowed to their wishes.
“Everyone will rip into it and there will be physical stuff.
“It will be a good contest that has a bit of feeling in it, and there is the risk of injuries, but we need to improve our scrummaging.
“The set-piece has gone from a penalty shootout to the best possession to break the line.
“We still want to scrum like England and gain penalties because that gives players confidence but we want to be able to use the ball quickly because we have great backs.”
England and Wales both begin their autumn campaigns on Saturday, November 11, with the former hosting Argentina, Australia and Samoa at Twickenham.
Gatland’s Wales first welcome Australia to the Principality Stadium before Georgia, New Zealand and South Africa all visit over the next three successive Saturdays.
