England boss Steve Borthwick handed huge boost ahead of Six Nations opener vs Ireland
England boss Steve Borthwick handed huge boost ahead of Six Nations opener vs Ireland
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Alex Mitchell is set to be fit for England’s Six Nations opener against Ireland on Saturday in a huge boost for Steve Borthwick. The scrum-half, who has been nursing a knee injury, trained fully in Girona on Monday and is expected to start in Dublin. Mitchell missed the entire autumn series with a bulging disc in his neck and then injured his knee in Northampton’s Champions Cup win over Munster 10 days ago.
The 27-year-old has been England’s first-choice scrum-half since the last World Cup, when he was initially left out of the squad, and is a key cog in Borthwick’s side. Mitchell is expected to partner Marcus Smith at fly-half with Henry Slade and Ollie Lawrence continuing their partnership in the centres with Freddie Steward inked in at full-back.
Slade and Lawrence have linked up in England’s last 10 Tests and Northampton’s in-form Fraser Dingwall is set to miss out again. Marcus Smith has fought off the challenge of Northampton’s Fin Smith and Sale’s George Ford for the No.10 shirt with the Saint expected to be a replacement at the Aviva.
Another Northampton man Tommy Freeman is certain to fill one of the wing berths but club mate Ollie Sleightholme is short of game time after a hamstring problem and Sale’s Tom Roebuck is pushing for a spot. Up front Leicester’s, Ollie Chessum is expected to return at blindside flanker. Chessum missed the summer tour with a shoulder injury and the autumn internationals, when he injured his knee, training in Girona, in October.
