• England and Wales to break with convention before autumn internationals • Rivals will hope to improve scrummaging in training session on MondayEddie Jones promised his England players this past week to prepare for chaos in the buildup to the 2019 World Cup and the first instalment of mayhem will arrive shortly in the form of a no-holds barred set-piece session in Bristol against their fierce rivals Wales. Jones is set on toppling New Zealand from the top of the world rankings by the start of the tournament in Japan and the fierce training paddock encounter with the Wales pack is rare to the point of unheard of in professional rugby, since today’s coaching teams are usually highly secretive about their training methods. Which XV should kick off England’s autumn international campaign? | Robert Kitson Read moreThe organised set-to a week on Monday will be overseen by the Welsh referee Nigel Owens and will include scrums and lineouts, as England prepare to face Argentina the following Saturday, when Wales take on Australia. The link-up with Wales was brokered by the forwards coach Steve Borthwick who had been part of the Lions’ coaching team in New Zealand in the summer headed by Wales’s Warren Gatland.

Source: The Guardian October 28, 2017 09:13 UTC