PLYMOUTH Albion’s director of rugby Graham Dawe has been helping England prepare for their opening Six Nations match against Scotland.

Dawe was invited up to Pennyhill Park on Tuesday by new head coach Eddie Jones to do some work with the England scrum.

However, the Albion boss has insisted that any involvement he has with the national side will not affect his work at Brickfields.

“I’m always keen to try and help England,” said former international hooker Dawe, after he was spotted at Pennyhill. “And this involvement does not hinder the work I do at Plymouth Albion.”

Dawe, who played in the 1987 and 1995 World Cups, previously worked with England assistant coaches Steve Borthwick and Paul Gustard at Saracens.  He also played against Jones, who was also a hooker, during a tour to Australia.

The Plymouth boss was keen to make it known that he was just helping England out on an informal basis.

“They wanted me to work on some specific elements in relation to the scrum – just adding some detail to try and make it more functional,” he said.

England begin their Six Nations campaign at Murrayfield on February 6. That game will kick-off at 4.50pm and Albion will be showing the clash in their bars after their National One home fixture against Blaydon.

Dawe’s main focus now is getting his Albion team ready for this weekend’s big match against fourth-placed Esher at Molesey Road.

Albion could overtake the Surrey club and move up into the top four if they were to win.