England and Wales set for scrum showdown as Eddie Jones bids to match All Blacks
England are to hone their set-piece in an unprecedented training session being staged against fierce rivals Wales in Bristol on Monday week.
Eddie Jones approached Warren Gatland to suggest the packs lock horns to sharpen their scrums and line-out in the build-up to their autumn series.
Once the British and Irish Lions coach agreed, the location was decided on the grounds of it being halfway between the opposition camps. England are based in Surrey for international camps, and Wales close to Cardiff.
Argentina open England's November schedule when they visit Twickenham in a fortnight and Jones wants his players to be prepared by "ripping" into Wales during an afternoon overseen by referee Nigel Owens.
"It will be brilliant, exactly what we need," Australian head coach Jones said.
"New Zealand have got the best scrum in the world and we haven't. So how do we improve? We must scrum against sides who are better than us. You can't improve scrummaging against each other.
"We were thinking, 'Right, how can we take this onto the next level? Scrum against a better team. Who's got a good scrum, who's close to us?'.
"We thought about Georgia but it's a bit far to go to Tbilisi for a day. So then (forwards coach) Steve Borthwick gave Warren a ring to see whether he was up for the idea and he was keen.
"The players will do a match of scrums. About 12 large scrums and 15 line-outs. Ripping!
"We wanted Wayne Barnes to referee but they wanted Nigel Owens and we've bowed to their wishes. Nigel is one of the best referees in the world so we're lucky."
Borthwick's relationship with Gatland developed during last summer's British and Irish Lions tour to New Zealand when the former was among the Wales coach's tracksuit lieutenants.
England have drawn further benefit from the 1-1 series draw with the All Blacks by compiling detailed feedback from those players involved to create a 20-page dossier - which Jones keeps in his car - that will be used to help plot the downfall of Steve Hansen's world champions.
"It's a big folder. We got the players to write reviews of the Lions from a learning point of view - what they learned about how to prepare for big Test matches, what they learned about the Kiwis," Jones said.
"Some of it was outstanding. I'm not surprised by what they said. A lot of it is good, positive stuff. And stuff that can be improved, but that is like any tour.
"It's all about coaching, physical preparation, tactical preparation, the psyche of New Zealand, what they found out, what players they felt could be flustered, how they would get at them."