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England have barred Lions head coach Warren Gatland from watching them train until after their clash with Wales next Saturday — and he will only be invited to an open session attended by school pupils.

Eddie Jones's players will begin their defence of the RBS 6 Nations title this weekend with the aim of claiming another Grand Slam, and also demonstrating that many of them deserve places in the Lions squad to tour New Zealand.

Gatland, the Wales coach who is on a year's sabbatical to prepare for the Lions tour, will not be at Twickenham for the England-France game. Instead, he will watch Scotland's match against Ireland before flying to Rome to attend Italy-Wales this Sunday.

Lions head coach Warren Gatland has been banned from watching England train

Gatland won't be allowed to watch them practice until after England plays Wales

With England taking on Wales, who are under the command of interim head coach Rob Howley, in Cardiff next weekend, Jones has made it clear that Gatland won't be allowed behind the scenes until after that potentially explosive fixture. 

'Warren is going to come in at some stage after the Wales game,' said the Australian. 'That will be fine — he is an experienced professional coach.'

Following a recent spying controversy in the English club game, when Tom Arscott was sacked by Sale after passing information to his brother Luke at Bristol, the issue of protecting sensitive information is high on the agenda. 

Eddie Jones has been busy preparing his side for the match against France on Saturday

Asked if he had any concerns about spying in relation to a visit by Gatland and the sort of information-sharing that takes place on a Lions tour, Jones added: 'No, no, and what they learn today is going to be different tomorrow.'

England have offered Gatland the chance to observe them in training on March 1, during one of the Six Nations 'down' weeks.

However, that day they will be conducting an open session at a school and the Lions have expressed concerns about the value of such access.

England were in training on Friday afternoon as they prepared for their first match

A crucial part of New Zealander Gatland's sabbatical from his day job with Wales is preparing to lead the Lions to his home country. That involves observing home nations squads in training during the championship, to gauge appropriate workloads for the tour.

Gatland spent time with Ireland at their base in Maynooth, west of Dublin, at the start of the week, allowing him to assess the large number of Irish contenders for squad places.

England, as reigning Six Nations champions, are expected to provide the largest contingent of players for the Lions, but it appears that Gatland is being kept at arm's length, instead of having a chance to see the candidates up close.

England are expecting to repeat their Six Nations heroics of last year as they go for glory

In addition, it is believed that England have been slow to assist with some of the Lions' routine logistical preparations for the tour, such as measuring up of players and official photography, in readiness for the squad announcement in April.

Lions officials have been frustrated by a lack of urgency and clarity in their communications with the England management.