England delighted after 'Battle of Bristol' training session against Wales that includes something of a surprise

The sight of Chris Robshaw packing down at No 8 has fuelled rumours that the England head coach could change up his back-row to face Argentina

England scrum coach Neil Hatley was pleased with the work against the Wales pack in training (Getty)

The England coaching staff are delighted with how the ‘Battle of Bristol’ training session against Wales went on Monday after stepping up there preparations for this weekend’s opening autumn international against Argentina, with head coach Eddie Jones potentially ready to spring a surprise.

The two national teams completed 12 scrums and 16 lineouts in the space of 40 minutes, with international referee Nigel Owens officiating the competitive training session that had been agreed by Jones and Welsh counterpart Warren Gatland in order to increase the competition offered in training.

“It was good, very worthwhile,” said England scrum coach Neil Hatley after the session as Cllifton College. “Obviously it is good to get live competition early on in the week and it was a very worthwhile session, a lot to be gained from it.

“The way we're trying to drive training we want to make it as unbelievably competitive as possible so I suppose it is the non-familiarity of it all – there were different players that you don't scrummage against week in, week out.”

Despite the session being held behind closed doors in the West Country, a video of one scrum soon emerged on social media, having been posted on Twotter by Bristol fan @BrisVADAR. The footage, which was filmed from the pavement outside the college, is slightly obscured by the green fabric that was put up around the training pitch in an attempt to keep prying eyes out, but it wasn’t enough to do the trick.

The video revealed that the Harlequins flanker, Chris Robshaw, was packing down at No 8, suggesting that Jones could look to change-up his back-row and redeploy the former captain in the absence of Billy Vunipola. However, it would be a surprising move from Jones, given the form of Wasps forward Nathan Hughes, who has filled in as Vunipola’s deputy for the past year.

Attentions were also on the ferocity of the two rival packs, but while both sets of players had spoken about their excitement at the opportunity to get one over the other ahead of next February, Hatley confirmed tempers remained intact throughout the session.

“There was a little bit of an edge but nothing serious, I think both sides took a lot from it,” he added. “It is a training aide to help us prepare for Argentina so there was a good edge to it.

The two sides went through 12 scrums and 16 lineouts (Getty)

“We got what we were looking to get out from it with things that we've been looking at in Portugal and preparing for. Obviously everything is setting up to play against Argentina who are a good set-piece team with a good scrum and lineout, so that is what today was handy for.”

The squad returned to their Pennyhill Park training base in Bagshot soon after the session in order to continue preparations for Saturday afternoon’s encounter at Twickenham, and the team met up with Wasps back Elliot Daly, who will be assessed further before a decision is made on his availability for this weekend – just three weeks after suffering a knee injury that threatened his entire autumn programme.

“Elliot is in camp and being assessed. We've been pretty busy so we'll find out more about him later in the day,” Hatley said.