Melville gets England call

Melville is a former England scrum-half

England coach Clive Woodward has recruited Gloucester boss Nigel Melville to help with his World Cup preparations.

Melville will work with scrum-halves Matt Dawson, Kyran Bracken and Andy Gomarsall in the run-up to rugby union's October showpiece in Australia.

"I've agreed to do six sessions with the scrum-halves. It should be an interesting experience," said Melville, who wore the number nine shirt for England.

"I will also work with the back-row, and it will be nice to get an insight into what is happening overall in the squad."

Key dates on road to Perth 23 Aug: Test v Wales (Cardiff) 30 Aug: Test v France (Ma'slle) 6 Sep: Test v France (Tw'ham) 8 Sep: WC squad announced 1 Oct: Squad depart for Aus

Melville expects the scrum-half specialist sessions to be "based around skills".

And they will fit into a general warm-up schedule that applies to the whole squad.

England are preparing for a Test against Wales on 23 August before playing home-and-away fixtures against France.